Winning Gift Wrap Ideas that Are Fun, Frugal and Eco-Friendly

How do you know you've found perfect gift">the perfect gift wrap? It takes the triple crown of being friendly to the environment, frugal for your budget and fun to give and receive. Here's a list to get you started that meets all three of these criteria:

Newspaper: Wrap a business related gift in the finance pages, something for a chef in the food advertisements, and athletic gear in the sports page. You can also do just about anything in the Sunday Funnies. To give some pizazz to this gift, tie it up in black or red curling ribbon.

Children's art work: If you have small children who attend daycare or preschool, chances are they bring home a lot of artwork. As much as you love them and admire their efforts your refrigerator door is only so big. Save these masterpieces in your gift wrap caddy and use them to wrap gifts. This is especially popular with distant grandparents or other relatives who may not see the child on a day to day basis.

Maps: If you've taken a road trip recently and no longer want your maps, save them for gift wrap. It's fun to match this type of wrapping to the gift as well. Maps make great gift wrap for such items as travel mugs or memorabilia from a recent road trip.

Potato chip bags: If you get potato chips in a bag with a shiny inside, turn the bag inside out and wash in hot soapy dishwater. Dry the bag thoroughly and save for a gift-giving occasion. You can use these like gift bags and seal the top with staples, stickers or ribbon for the easiest method. Or, if you prefer, you can cut them open and use flat like any other wrapping paper. One Christmas, I wrapped all my gifts in chip bags tied with gold ribbon and it looked really pretty under the tree.

Old sheet music: This is a creative way to wrap something for the music lover on your list. Of course it's best for small sized gifts, but you can tape several sheets together for a larger piece.