Holiday Gift Wrapping
Months before Christmas came around, I was day dreaming about how I was going to wrap all of the gifts we gave in cloth. I was going to cut various-sized pieces of colorful fabric, buy some pretty cloth ribbons, and say goodbye to unrecyclable paper wrap and gift bags.
I did some research and discovered that, of course, this is not a new idea. Specifically, there is a Japanese style of wrapping called Furoshiki which is now becoming popular with the western eco hippy crowd. You can buy all kinds of very expensive cloth squares and learn pretty, elaborate methods of wrapping gifts into lovely packages.
You can check it out here.
But more true to my style, time got away from me and I barely got my gifts organised by Christmas Eve, let alone any wrapping plans.
We got through our gift wrapping needs this year with a combination of leftover paper and salvaged gifts bags from last year. To be honest, we also wrapped some of our gifts in bags that we received on the 22nd. So no, we weren't terribly organised or exciting, but we did get through the holidays without purchasing any wrapping materials.
I would like to do something nicer next year. I think we should be able to wrap gifts without creating significant waste, I just have a procrastination problem. Realistically I need to start working on it, like, now, if I want to successfully wrap anything Furoshiki style by next December.
Did you do anything unique to reduce waste in your gift wrapping this year? Leave a comment!
I did some research and discovered that, of course, this is not a new idea. Specifically, there is a Japanese style of wrapping called Furoshiki which is now becoming popular with the western eco hippy crowd. You can buy all kinds of very expensive cloth squares and learn pretty, elaborate methods of wrapping gifts into lovely packages.
You can check it out here.
But more true to my style, time got away from me and I barely got my gifts organised by Christmas Eve, let alone any wrapping plans.
We got through our gift wrapping needs this year with a combination of leftover paper and salvaged gifts bags from last year. To be honest, we also wrapped some of our gifts in bags that we received on the 22nd. So no, we weren't terribly organised or exciting, but we did get through the holidays without purchasing any wrapping materials.
I would like to do something nicer next year. I think we should be able to wrap gifts without creating significant waste, I just have a procrastination problem. Realistically I need to start working on it, like, now, if I want to successfully wrap anything Furoshiki style by next December.
Did you do anything unique to reduce waste in your gift wrapping this year? Leave a comment!
Hi Heather! I've been reading your blog all day. It's great! I love your writing style -- no wasted words, which I guess fits with your subject matter.
ReplyDeleteI made fabric envelopes similar to these for Christmas: http://ribbonwoodcottage.blogspot.ca/2013/01/tutorial-valentine-fabric-envelope-to.html. But I sewed ribbon for tying right in to the top flap. The funny thing is deciding if you will demand them back from people or if you're okay with sewing new ones every Christmas. I asked for them back from my family, but was too embarrassed to ask for them back from, say, Jeff's work colleagues.
Hey Alexis, those envelopes look awesome. What kind of gifts did you put in them? When we were kids my mom used to sew cloth gifts bags that were basically a bag with a nice draw-string for wrapping gifts. I've thought of doing that as well... agree with the issue with getting them back though. I imagine I would follow a similar idea to you and let it depend on who the gift was for. I guess the benefit to the Furoshiki idea is that most likely people won't really want to keep the fabric after it's unwrapped and all wrinkled, so it might be easier to take back.
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