I have been using brown paper to wrap presents for years. But this year I’ve decided to level up.

Here are my top 10 favourite Christmas wrapping ideas with brown paper.

1. Forage accessories with white tags

Get out in the garden or down the woods with your secateurs and grab some nature goodies. I’m talking twigs, branches, holly, pinecones whatever you fancy. Add these goodies underneath some string for a real natural look.

2. Dried oranges

I love a dried orange at Christmas, it always adds a bit of colour. I have dried oranges every year for the last 3 years now and have almost mastered it but I find passing on what I do might work for everyone as every oven is different.

I start with the heat at 90 degrees and just keep checking them every hour. I highly recommend giving it a go if you have a day at home planned as it is a fun activity to do. Maybe you can wrap your presents while you wait for the orange to dry.

Top tip – before you put the oranges in the oven pat them down with kitchen roll to remove some of the orange juice.

3. DIY Calligraphy paper

I have done this one in the past for birthdays but never for Christmas as it is a bit of a commitment. But this year I am going to use it on just a few gifts. You can even personalise and add their name if you have time. Finish off with some string and a white label and you are good to go. I just use your average sharpie.

4. Cinnamon sticks and star anise

If you want your Christmas tree to smell delicious, add some star anise and cinnamon sticks to your wrapping.

5. Reuse old Christmas cards for labels

My Mum taught me this one years ago and I think it is a lovely one. She uses fancy zig zag scissors, but I just use a normal scissors. All you need to do is cut around the image, grab a hole punch and there you have a lovely label that can be used for the following year. Now you just need to remember where you stored the ones you made last year!

6. DIY bow

Who says you actually have to use string or ribbon to decorate your gifts. I love these hand drawn bows over at Cakies.

7. Newspaper

Ok, so not brown paper, but a great way to add a bit of character under your tree. Better still, if you have any old newspapers from years ago, reuse them. Just make sure you read the paper article before you use it!!

8. DIY Stamps

This stamping over on Handmade Charlotte looks like a lot of fun if you can commit the time to rolling. Might be a fun one to do with the kids (said by someone who doesn’t have kids so has no idea how much mess this type of activity would make).

9. Grab a paint brush

Not sure I can commit to this level of wrapping paper art but love these designs on Almost makes perfect. Could be used all year round not just for Christmas too.

10. Add a pom pom

When I saw this one, I thought it would be a bit too complicated, but do you know what, after watching the video it doesn’t actually look too difficult! I’ve had a go myself and they are so easy to do. The great thing about them is they don’t need to be too perfect. Click here to watch the video over at Kelseybang. Below is my attempt in my colour scheme.

Hope you found this useful :). What's your favourite one? I think mine might just be the pom pom!

Kath