Reduce, I support. Recycle, I support. But, reuse, I love!
Check out this great ‘green’ package. It’s a wine gift box that is also a hummingbird house! So clever.
As we proceed into the holiday dinner and cocktail party season, many people will pick up gifts, flowers or bottles of cheer to take to their hosts. What other smart double-duty packages can be used to carry a gift and then be used for something else? Gift bags don’t count – I want you to dig deeper today, dear readers.
PS: Here are instructions on how to make a wine bottle birdhouse.
Welcome to my blog! Have a look around, feel free to post some comments and 
Please subscribe to my blog and never miss a posting.
Hungry for info on the latest food trends? 
Dana McCauley's food blog 
The classic in my family is to use tea towels to wrap shower gifts. They also go around wine bottle quite nicely.
I love this idea! I am definitely going to print out the instructions to give to my go-to-carpenter and give these away this holiday season – thanks!
What a super idea. I had no idea that hummingbirds need houses. I plant flowers for them, but maybe this will encourage them to stay…
Like Amy, our family did the tea towel wrapper.
Within our family, we use gift bags only. I haven’t bought wrapping paper in ages. But beyond that? I’m clean out of ideas.
That looks more like a bluebird house. Hummingbirds are not cavity-nesters; their nests (which are about as big as half a ping-pong ball) are secured to the upper side of branches and are not concealed in any way. (Do a Google image search for “hummingbird nest” for a lot of wonderful photos of these little jewels.)
Be that as it may, gift wrap that doubles as a birdhouse is a great idea, and whatever species it’s intended for will surely appreciate it!
Truthfully, I’m a food expert and not a bird expert. I will defer to you on this one completely. Thanks for setting the record straight.
The wine store also had wooden boxes with slide out covers the length of the box. Over the last few years they’ve changed a bit-some with burgundy grapes stenciled on the front. My friend screwed these boxes onto her kitchen wall and put spice bottles in them. I put one in my laundry room and attached hooks to the inside to hide keys–it’s on it’s side and the lid just slides open.
I gift things in plant containers, cookie jars, laundry baskets (big stuff), hat boxes (pretty stuff for little girls), wicker baskets (food stuff), if I’m giving money I buy a nice book and hide the money within the pages.
I draw the line at covering up my wine–a beautiful bottle of Barolo or Moet and Chandon needs no adornment!
[…] Double-duty packaging « Dana McCauley's food blog […]
I think this is graet idia. I have to try it! cyprus car
Gotta love clever packaging!
I just LOVE this! Great blog too. GREG
Thanks Greg!