While making gift bags for the local nursing home, I realized I had a lot of tissue paper from events past. All the pretty colors and patterns, I couldn't bear to throw it away so I flattened it out and decided to iron it. Worked like a charm.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
Is it considered tacky to reuse gift tissue paper when its wrinkled? Just curious.
Daphna from Alachua, Florida
Not tacky in my book at all. Esp with all the environmental awareness etc.
I have ironed tissue paper on low heat, no steam.
If it is still quite wrinkled I scrunch it up in a ball really tight to make it equally crinkled all over and then undo it it and sort of iron it out with my hands. It gives it an antique-ish look. LOL.
You could also try to accordian pleat it and cut it in strips to us more like you would use "Easter grass" and bury the gift in if the size warrants.
I re-use mine all the time. Why throw it out? Half the time it's all scrunched up to fill up a gift bag, so put the scrunched stuff on the bottom! Or cut off the torn bits. I was raised to unwrap lovely wrappings carefully, so they could be trimmed & used again - why not?
I always reuse mine. You can wrap gifts or use it in a gift bag, in which case it won't matter if it is scrunched. When I was expecting my last child I used the gift wrap from all the showers to line his dresser drawers.
Always recycle whenever you can. The tissue paper usually is wrinkled up so, that makes no difference. :)
I agree with all the posters. Maybe for a wedding present I'd spring for some crisp new white tissue at the dollar store, but I've been re-using, crinkling, and ironing mine for decades! It's not tacky, it's environmentally intelligent! Go GREEN!
Almost forgot one more tip - run multiple colors through a paper shredder for colorful filler paper! Good for gifts or for padding items you're shipping.
I agree with everyone else, no it's not tacky and you are saving the environment.
We have a large family and we use the gift bags from the Dollar Store.
Yes
You can roll it into roses or twist it into other flower shapes, this is a GREAT way to recycle as well as add flair to future presents
You can easily iron out the creases with your iron. We do this all the time at my house. We probably haven't purchased new paper in a year.
I have made cute cards by ironing crinkled tissue paper to freezer paper - put iron on low, flatten out tissue paper with hands, iron flattened tissue paper to shiny side of freezer paper, the shiny stuff on freezer paper fuses tissue paper to freezer paper, cut into card shape and fold, voila! a cute card (tissue paper on outside, white freezer paper on inside to write on). Tip: ironing on freezer paper side is a little easier
It's also good to use to pad something you're shipping, instead of using bubble wrap. Crinkling and wadding it up makes it take up more space. : D
I just iron on low if it's too wrinkled and reuse. Can even tell the difference!
I do all the time. When it's ripped, it is garbage though, I won't reuse it. It seems like the tissue paper is getting thinner and harder to reuse, because it so easily rips.
I reuse gift tissue paper all the time. For the ones that rip, I remove any tape and put it in my cleaning box. They're great for cleaning windows. :)
I reuse it if it's not too wrinkled. I sometimes use it to fill the bottom of the bag where it won't be noticed. Also, I like to make gift baskets and run the wrinkled paper through the shredder (one that makes strips and not confetti) and use it in the baskets.
I work for a school. I am an aide on a special needs bus and want a pattern for a school bus tissue box holder. Does anyone know of one?
Vickim from Mount Vernon, WA
Here's a website I found that has a cute one at the bottom of the home page.
thecalicocat.com/
I don't know if you want a small "portable" tissue holder or the larger "regulation" type of tissue box holder... Either way... Simply take apart a box of tissues & remake one using the original as a pattern ... to make it you can use "FunFoam" (& glue) or fabric with super-thick interfacing... If I were you, I'd add magnets to the bottom so you can just stick it up somewhere on the bus! ... Magnets come in stick-on strips with adhesive on the back. You can buy them at craft stores...OR you can just buy a bag of those tiny "portable" (purse sized) tissue holders & stick magnets on these & stick them up in various places around the bus...
4 TISSUE HOLDER PATTERNS:
sewing.about.com/
craftapalooza.typepad.com/
stardustshoes.blogspot.com/
belladia.typepad.com/
CROCHETED TISSUE HOLDER:
www.crochetmemories.com/
EMBROIDERED TISSUE HOLDER: (These are PDF files)
www.pfaffusa.com/
Here is a link for how to make one...I think they based it on the pattern they saw online for sale at the link that Granny below had posted.
tnmomwith3kids.wordpress.com/
based on last pic on this page:
www.thecalicocat.com/
I swear I have also seen ones in pattern books you buy at the craft store for making one out of plastic canvas that was a school bus.
sort of like this only a tissue box:
www.a1craftpatterns.com/
You might want to check with the local authorities first. My friend's daughters drive the special needs busses and they are not allowed to have anything onboard that might fly around and injure someone if in an accident. Strictly prohibited. This includes the driver's pocketbooks. Please check around first so you don't get in trouble. I never knew of this rule until she mentioned it one day. They have to keep their ID's in their pockets.
did you mean a tissue holder shaped LIKE a school bus, or one to keep on the bus? if it's to be shaped like a bus make a pattern from an empty regular tissue box (not the square box), making sure you add 1/2 inch overlaps so you can glue (cardstock). then, on one of the long sides, add a "bump up" about 3 inches by 6 inches. this will be the part of the bus with the windows. the rest of that side will be the part where the engine is.
good luck///blind_quilter///yahoo
