The Soolip Fix

Jessica Stein's Faux Leather Gift Wrap. Photo by Ricardo DeAratanha/Los Angeles Times

I’m always looking for new and artful ways to re-use household items for festive occasions. This holiday season, Jessica Stein, staff writer at the LA Times and author of Re-Bound: Creating Handmade Books From Recycled and Repurposed Materials has some great ideas. Her D-I-Y wrapping paper idea will bring new life to that stack of old magazines and brown paper grocery bags that you’ve stashed away. Plus, it’s a great activity for the kids too (even the older ones can help with the sewing machine portion of the project). With a little left over shoe polish, you can also transform an ordinary brown bag into a faux leather wrap that will give any gift a fresh decorative edge. Check out all her ideas on the LA Times website by clicking here.