I found this giant, laminated Texas wall map at a thrift store. It cost me next to nothing (at 1.39/lb) so I couldn’t resist it. It isn’t vintage so I couldn’t sell it. I considered putting it up on one of our walls. It’s pretty awesome and we love maps. Plus, we’re relatively new to Texas so we have a honeymoon glow thing going on.
I did give a casual thought to recycling it as packaging. When my ‘There’s No Business Like Show Business’ sheet music sold the other day, I learned just how important passing thoughts can be. The sheet music is delicate and I didn’t have an envelope large enough so I was going to fashion one out of a brown bag. I cut one piece of heavy cardboard and was hunting for another when I spied the rolled up map. By serendipity it works out better than expected.
First of all, scotch tape sticks perfectly and securely so I saved on package tape. I stapled the one end, added a strip of scotch tape and folded over and taped the other end. Secondly, it doesn’t fold exactly flat because of the laminate so this creates an air pocket. Not only is it a strong package, protected from moisture, but I didn’t need another piece of cardboard. And it looks lovely, too. That’s one of my trademarks – when you receive something from me in your mailbox, it is never ordinary. In fact, it is always one of a kind. So this map satisfies me on so many levels. I will get many packages out of it.
My daughter , who normally loves my packages, was not so thrilled.
‘Oh, I thought we were going to put that up on a wall!’
Oops.
Any excuse to head back out on the hunt, right friends?
Wish me luck.
I hope you find this tip useful.
Have a beautiful week.
Great idea! We love using odd things for wrapping up presents and packages. We use inside out brown grocery bags, plastic bags cut in sheets, magazine pages and just about anything else paper or plastic.
A really cute idea! Thanks for sharing!
Kelly
Zenful Goods
Fantastic idea. I don't do enough of this… I'm going to keep my eye out when I'm picking this week and see what I can find.
I really, really love this idea way to go!
Thanks for your comments. I appreciate you all taking time to leave one. I just made a small envelope for a jewelry item. I used one of those money gift envelopes as a template. It came out wonderfully. It added some extra air space inside the padded envelope. I may be addicted now. 🙂
Such a great idea!!
Very cool!
I'm always using different things for packaging, as well. It seems like I'm usually remaking boxes into different sizes and scrounging all the bubble wrap and packaging I get from things I buy to use in my shop. It's just one, big recycling circle!!! Love your idea – I'll be on the lookout…