IT NEEDN’T COST THE EARTH

Be creative and create your own eco-friendly gift wrap and crackers from recycled paper, then use one of our clever designs to finish off...

RECYCLED CRACKERS

Use cardboard tubes or loo rolls and brown paper to make crackers. Ours are silent but you can add a cracker snap if you wish. First cut a 27cm x 17cm piece of brown paper. Take 2 tubes or loo rolls, and cut 1 in half. Fill the whole tube with a gift (toys, sweets or even jewellery), then line up the tubes along one edge of the paper, with the whole tube in the middle and the half tubes at each end, and glue in place. Roll up in the paper, then scrunch and tie the ends with ribbon.

Decorate with sequins, ribbons, paper stars and stamped greetings. Materials from artnhobby.ie. Cracker snaps, €1 from Art and Hobby.

BAGS OF FUN

Turn paper bags into cute gift bags – simply cut out eyes, ears, beaks and antlers in coloured paper and stick them on the bags to make woodland creatures. Materials from mrprice.ie.

JOYFUL JARS

Wrap your present in brown paper. Draw a jam jar on the front. Stick on a sprig of berries ‘in’ the jar with double-sided tape. Wrap the parcel with ribbon, tying in a bow over the sprig.

SEASONAL STREET

Create our house gift wrap by drawing doors and windows on brown paper-wrapped parcels. Bend green pipe cleaners into wreaths, glue red bows on and attach to the doors with doublesided tape, and draw trees decorated with cranberries. Materials from artnhobby.ie and mrprice.ie.