Parent Hacks

  • About the Book
  • Where to buy
    • Amazon
    • Powell’s Books
    • Bookshop.org

"Just...genius." — Buzzfeed

Parent Hacks is the encouraging book I needed when I was an exhausted new parent.

Find out more

Reusable gift wrap: pillowcases!

in: Etc.

Amazon: Pucca pillowcases This present-wrapping hack saves time AND trees! From Virginia in Ireland:

I've been feeling a little PST (Pre-Santa Syndrome) this week — too much to do and too little time.  Suddenly I had a short window for gift wrapping but no supplies!  What to do?  PILLOW CASES! We all know about gift bags, but what if they're not big enough, or you don't have any?  I was able to wrap nearly all the family's medium-size gifts in under 30 minutes total.

I also filled two cases with a few small gifts to each child from Granny instead of wrapping each one.  Just pop in the gift and tie with anything handy.  I used ribbon for some, a bandana for one and even scarves. 

Bonus!  By using pillow-cases from each person's bed-set, no labelling was required — everyone will know which is their own gift.

Double-bonus! need to peek inside? untie and retie the bow.  (Careful, unless you tie it in knots, little eyes may peek too)  Wrapping all wrapped-up!  Feeling much more cheerful now 🙂

Related: Sew simple gift bags out of sale fabric, and lose the wrapping paper for good

Get updates from Asha.

I'll email you when I have new writing, events, or news to share. Low-frequency (I respect your attention & inbox), privacy always, unsubscribe any time.

*indicates required

Newest posts

  • How to tighten pants without sewing
  • You’re invited
  • Can blogs rebuild America?
  • What feeds us
  • Behind the Book: Writing the Parent Hacks manuscript

About Asha Dornfest

Asha Dornfest is a writer, parent, and insistent optimist living in Portland, Oregon. She is the author of PARENT HACKS, co-author of MINIMALIST PARENTING, and co-host of the Edit Your Life podcast.

Comments

  1. Shauna says

    December 9, 2010 at 7:39 am

    I like this idea! You could even get a new pillowcase with a favorite character, color, whatever and use it to wrap a child’s gift, and the pillowcase would be part of the gift.

  2. holly says

    December 9, 2010 at 1:45 pm

    I know it’s not eco-friendly and all, but ripping off the wrapping paper? It’s fun.

  3. monster says

    December 12, 2010 at 4:23 pm

    This sounds good if you lay in a supply of new pillow cases ahead of time; not sure how I feel about using old ones that have already been in use. If you sew, you could make Christmas-fabric cases and then next year they could appear on the beds…

  4. adrienne says

    December 27, 2010 at 11:46 am

    We used this for our kids’ birthdays as well as Christmas this year. With my two preschoolers, I actually loaded up the cases with multiple items. It takes our two-year-old some time just to pull everything out, so the pace of opening doesn’t change much (but her frustration level drops notably).

    With our newborn’s feeding schedule there were barely enough hours in the day to get presents much less wrap them. Long live the pillowcase wrapper!

Your go-to gift for new parents

Parent Hacks, a book for new parents

Popular Posts

6 satisfying meals to cook with a hotel coffeemaker or iron

6 satisfying meals to cook with a hotel coffeemaker or iron

How to tighten pants without sewing

How to tighten pants without sewing

A tool to help kids respond to unfriendly teasing

A tool to help kids respond to unfriendly teasing

About the Author

Asha Dornfest is an author, optimist, and mom of two. She started the Parent Hacks blog in 2005, and turned it into a book in 2016. More about Asha »

Disclosure: This site uses affiliate links when linking to some products, which means I get a small commission if you click through and buy. There’s no cost to you, but these commissions help me pay the costs associated with running this website. Thank you for supporting independent writers!

Copyright © 2021 All Rights Reserved | PARENT HACKS is a registered trademark owned by Asha Dornfest | Terms/Privacy Policy