Last Updated on October 11, 2021 by Kimberly Crawford
Recycle items around the house to make Valentine’s Day presents and gift wrap items. Making romantic gifts has never been so much fun and inexpensive.
Repurposing items is an environmentally-friendly way to show loved ones that you care about them on Valentine’s Day. Make this romantic holiday special by recycling cereal boxes, sweaters, coffee filters and egg cartons.
Recycled Egg Cartons Make Special Valentine’s Day Packages
#1. Recycled Egg Cartons
Use cardboard egg cartons to house tiny Valentine’s Day gifts. Anyone who needs a mini box or bag to wrap a present in for this romantic holiday should cut the individual cups out from a cardboard egg carton, punch a small hole on two opposite sides and thread a small piece of wire through the holes for the handle.
Secure the wire on both sides and decorate the container. Using buttons, beads and scraps of paper, one can make adorable packaging for a small gift.
Repurpose Coffee Filters into Flowers and Garlands
#1. Coffee Filter Heart Wreath
#2. Rose Valentine’s Day Coffee Filter Tree
#3. Valentine’s Coffee Filter Wreath
#4. Dyed coffee filter flowers
#5. Upcycled Coffee Filter Flowers
Decorate a loved one’s home using coffee filters to make beautiful garlands. Gather a package of coffee filters, newspapers that you’ve already read, used tissue paper and books that you plan on recycling.
Try to find items that are Valentine’s Day colors. For example, choose red and pink tissue paper and scraps of paper. Cut them into similar sized circles and sort them into piles. You’ll want to have about 15 coffee filters with other items in each pile. How many piles you need is determined by how long you want your garland to be.
You’ll need to punch a hole through the center of each pile. String them together with sturdy yarn or string, tying a knot before and after each pile. Leave six to twelve inches in between each pile. This makes beautiful decorations to hang up for your spouse to enjoy or to give to a friend or family member this Valentine’s Day.
Used coffee filters can also be recycled to make faux flowers. Rinse the coffee filter using cold water to get all of the grinds off of it. Make a stem by wrapping one edge of the filter and secure with tape.
Form the other side into a beautiful flower. Cut a small, round piece of cardboard from a cardboard tube, like the one you find in the middle of toilet paper or paper towels, and paint it light pink or red. Put the coffee filters in the tube to act as the vase. Whoever receives this Valentine’s Day gift can put it on her desk at work or on a windowsill and the flowers will never die.
Cereal Boxes Become Gift Bags when Reused
After finishing a favorite cereal, keep the box to use as a gift box for a Valentine’s Day present. Cut the top flaps off of the cereal box and punch a hole near the top on both sides of the cereal box.
Paint the cereal box a Valentine’s Day color such as pink, lavender or red. Attach ribbon to the cereal box by threading it through the two holes that you punched to act as a handle. Decorate the box using scraps of paper around the house, stray buttons and ribbon, unused envelopes and other craft items.
Recycle Sweaters to Make Coffee Cozies
#1. Red Heart and Gingham Coffee Cozy Sleeve
#2. Homemade sleeve for your coffee
#3. Coffee Mug Warmer
#4. Shocking Pink Mug Warmer & Hearty Button
#5. Heart Mug Cozy Pattern
#6. Wooden Heart Button & Blue Mug Warmer
Have a spouse or loved one who drinks coffee on a regular basis? Give him or her a coffee cozy made from an old sweater that has rips or a hole in it. Just cut off the cuff from one arm of the sweater and you have the base of the cozy.
Attach decorations such as pink and red felt hearts by sewing them on by hand. This is an easy and simple Valentine’s Day present that will cost next to nothing to make.
Give friends and family members environmentally-friendly Valentine’s Day gifts by repurposing items around the house. Turn egg cartons and cardboard boxes into gift bags. Use coffee filters to decorate for Valentine’s Day and to give your spouse flowers that won’t die.
