Groovy gift wrap

Miami Herald

Why waste time and resources wrapping a present, when the wrapping can become the present? This holiday season, make the wrapping just as meaningful as the gift inside.

• Your cup runneth over: Instead of the traditional stocking, why not take your venti caramel frappuccino plastic cup -- destined for the trash heap -- rinse it out and fill it with toys? Or candy? Or both. Bonus points for the gift-giver who throws in a shiny crazy straw.

• Be green bags: In case you didn't get the recyclable memo, going green is in. A plethora of eco-conscious products are hitting the shelves, like the BeGreen Pod and the RuMe bag. Both are trendy, reusable totes that can be tucked into a ball, folded into the shape of a cell phone or stuffed into a glove box in your car. ''It is a gift bag that keeps on giving,'' says Jae Lee, co-founder of the Denver-based RuMe. For every BeGreen Pod that's sold, a tree will be planted.
BeGreen Pods retail for $12.95; www.begreennow.com RuMe Bags are available in standard tote or mini size; sold individually or in sets of three, $8.95-$28.50; http://www.rumebags.com/.

• Fabric gift wrap: If you can't keep your hands off the gift wrap, at least get the re-usable kind. Fwrap is a gift wrap made of fabric that comes in three sizes. Small fits CDs; medium is perfect for books and DVDs; and large is a 9-by-11 ½-inch rectangle. The Ecospun fiber wraps come in a variety of colors and styles, including crimson red or evergreen for the holidays. A new line, Petals, is more decorative, with little flower clasps to seal the deal. Prices range from $8 for a small Fwrap to $30 for a set of three; http://www.fwraps.com/.

• Word up: We all know that newspapers are taking a beating from the Internet. But the printed page is still good for some things, like wrapping fish. And presents. For the chef in your life, what could be better than a cookbook wrapped in the pages of a newspaper's food section? Forgo the bow, and spruce the gift up with tubes of spices.
Pick up The Miami Herald's Food section Thursdays for 35 cents in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.

• Bean bags: Ahhh, what could be better than waking up to the smell of coffee brewing? A pound of coffee beans may not sound like the best gift idea, but package it in a ReJAVAnate bag and now you're in business. The coffee roaster bags are made of burlap and would otherwise be tossed in a landfill. They are sold plain or with a grower's logo. Or they can be printed with a logo in soy-based ink. The bags come in large and medium, $7-$8.50; http://www.rejavanate.com/.

• A Bean of a different color: Why stop with coffee? This holiday season, LL Bean is offering ''Breakfast in a Bag,'' with a 16-ounce buttermilk pancake mix, 8.5-ounce Grade A dark amber Main maple syrup, 8.5 ounces of Maine blueberry preserves and a 1.08-ounce package of Log Cabin Blend coffee. The goodies come packaged in a canvas tote with an embroidered tree.
By catalog, $55; http://www.llbean.com/ code: KL53490.

• Remember when: For a truly personal wrap job, print out snapshots from a favorite trip, family celebration or holiday and use the paper to cover your gifts.