A savvy homemaker is sharing an easy hack for using old gift box lids from the holidays, improving your presentation skills while saving money and cutting down on waste.
The scoop
Heather Brinkley (@heatherbrinkley0) on TikTok shared a video of a hack she had actually seen elsewhere and wanted to spread the word because of its usefulness.
@heatherbrinkley0 Making a gift box out of a lid. Very beneficial when you don't have the correct size box. #christmastips #makingabox #wrappingtips #christmashacks ♬ original sound - Heather Brinkley
Brinkley shows how she takes an old gift box lid from a previous present, usually leftover from Christmas, and folds it a certain way to create a whole new box. By folding it two-thirds in both directions to meet the edge, it creates a spine for the newly formed box, allowing it to open kind of like a book after you cut two notches on either side to make a hinge. After that, you're able to fold the box forward and tape the inner corners together to give it structure and fold the lid over to use.
"It's so much easier to wrap things like that than to just wrap a piece of clothing or whatever," Brinkley said, noting it's also a great option for items that don't fit standard-size boxes.
How it's helping
Gift wrapping and gift box costs can add up quickly, especially at the holidays, and sometimes you have to play a guessing game on what will fit in which box, how many you need, meaning you can end up with unused boxes or leftovers from past holidays and birthdays taking up space in your home. Being able to reuse an old lid to essentially customize your gift-wrapping saves you money and makes the most of any you already spent by using every part of the box.
It's also a great way to keep those boxes from taking up space in a landfill. Cardboard is a very recyclable material, but not all of it gets handled properly. A study shared by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory from 2019 showed that only 38% of cardboard waste was being recycled, 56% ended up in landfills, and the rest was burned.
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When cardboard sits in landfills, it does break down, but it releases gases like methane as it does, which is a heavy-duty contributor to planet-warming and the changing climate.
By reusing the cardboard lids and other materials like that, you're helping your wallet and the planet at the same time.
What everyone's saying
Fellow crafty commenters loved the hack, with one person writing, "Wait cause this is genius!!"
Another said it was a good reminder, writing, "Dang it I could have just did this instead of throwing them in bags cause I always forget how to wrap stuff lol."
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The way it looks 
"So helpful!" another commenter exclaimed.
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