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DIY projects, crafts, free sewing patterns and printables that look handmade, not homemade

Home / Occasion / Birthdays & Parties / Phone Book Wrapping Paper for Gifts

Phone Book Wrapping Paper for Gifts

April 14, 2008 by Kathy

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Merriment :: Phone Book Wrapping Paper for Gifts

AT&T delivered piles of telephone books to my neighborhood a couple of weeks ago. Not needing ours but cringing at tossing the stack into the trash I decided to find some crafty uses for them. So I wrapped my sister Karin’s birthday gifts with birthday-themed yellow pages.

Supplies:

  • Telephone book (preferably yellow pages)
  • Tape
  • Scissors
  • Ribbonor bow for garnish

Merriment :: Phone Book Wrapping Paper for Gifts

Flip through the phone book to find a suitable topic. For Karin’s birthday I chose ‘Bakery,’ ‘Balloons,’ ‘Gifts,’ ‘Flowers,’ and ‘Cake.’ Run one side of your scissors down the spine or tear out to remove the page. For smaller boxes like the jewelry box above you can just cut to size and wrap. Add a ribbon, bow or other garnish; I used a fuschia, sheer, shiny metallic ribbon that picked up the pink in the Sweet Cakes logo.

Merriment :: Phone Book Wrapping Paper for Gifts

For larger boxes, tape pages together from the backside to create one large sheet, then wrap. For my sister’s larger box I used 12 pages.

I like this idea because it’s simple, whimsical and green for the reduce-reuse-recycle minded. Here are some occasions and suggested phone book themes to try:

Birthday = Balloons, Bakery, Cake, Candy, Liquor
Bachelorette/Bachelor Party = Bars, Liquor, Entertainment, Escorts, Limousine
Baby = Child, Schools, Diaper Service, Nannies, Furniture – Children’s, Clowns
New Home = Moving, Painting
Engagement or Wedding Shower = Bridal, Diamonds, Jewelry, Wedding, Banquet, Bakers, Caterers

Other fun topics for the right recipient: Travel, Aquariums, Body Piercings, Bowling, Costumes, Golf, Tattooing, Pawnbrokers. Let me know what you come up with!

Filed Under: Birthdays & Parties, DIY Gift Ideas, DIY Tutorials, Earth Day, Recycled Crafts, Under 1 Hour, Vintage Inspired

About Kathy

I'm Kathy, maker of things and Chicago mom who likes simple and clever DIYs that look handmade, not homemade. I like sewing, printables, handmade birthdays, holiday decor and easy cakes. See my work at HGTV, DIY Network, Apartment Therapy, DesignSponge, more. ✂️

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Comments

  1. 1

    Heather Crosby says

    April 15, 2008 at 8:52 am

    Genius. Geez. You are so good.

  2. 2

    Jamie says

    April 15, 2008 at 8:01 pm

    That is hilarious. Maybe I should have saved the other 8 phonebooks I tossed? 🙁

  3. 3

    Jillian says

    April 17, 2008 at 1:14 am

    I happened to just come across your site. You are very talented! I love this idea and so simple!

  4. 4

    Merriment :: Kathy Beymer says

    April 20, 2008 at 9:47 am

    Thanks, guys!! Glad you like this one…

  5. 5

    Phone book love? says

    May 2, 2008 at 11:06 am

    Well the phone book companies aren’t going to be too happy about this…but I have to admit that these kinds of things are going to happen and frankly you’ve done a good job on this…

  6. 6

    Gail Siefker Hayes says

    December 19, 2008 at 5:53 pm

    Kathy – great site. Glad your mom shared the link. And i just have to say that we’ve wrapped many a gift in Sunday comics. No theme there, but it is very colorful…and available!

  7. 7

    Stephanie says

    December 23, 2009 at 10:39 pm

    This is SUCH a good idea. Brilliant, actually. Now, I won’t just toss the phone books in the garbage when they arrive on our doorstep!

    The real question, however, is *why* do they show up on everyone’s doorsteps in the first place? Such a waste of time and trees, IMO. 😉

  8. 8

    Mary @ Parenthood says

    December 25, 2009 at 6:48 am

    Great idea! I had also recently tripped over this video for making a secret book compartment (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8W58xK5zFg) but was iffy on the idea of ruining a perfectly good book even for a cute project. Your idea got me thinking that a telephone book might do too…

    Thanks!

Kathy Beymer from Merriment Design
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