While I like presenting gifts in an appealing way, fancy paper gift-wrap is a real money- pit, not to mention a bit of an earth-killer (think how much of it ends up in the land-fill every year!). Those shiny Hallmark gift-bags will certainly get used more than once, passed from friend to friend, but eventually they too retire to a land-fill, probably biodegrading far slower than even the paper would have!
Aside from the obvious solution of not wrapping the gift at all, there are a few things I've used to contain past Christmas presents....
Hand-made cloth gift-bags are perfect for immediate family. That way, if you put extra special details into them, you can enjoy them year after year under your own tree. Last year I sewed up half a dozen, just using scraps of fabric and ribbon I had in the basement. At roughly 1.5 feet by 2 feet, they can hold big gifts or be folded around smaller ones. My favorite bags incorporated pieces of an old white lace table-cloth. If my sewing machine cooperates, I'll whip up a bunch more this year.
Colorful vintage scarves abound at local thrift stores, or maybe in your own closet. Alternatively, just use any square of cloth. I can't wait to grab a few more scarves, and try out some of these Japanese "Furoshiki" folding techniques! Isn't this cool? I wish I could remember where I found this diagram! I love how the fold depends on the shape of the object.
How about you? Ever received a really unusually-wrapped gift?
That is what I did last Christmas. I will make more this year. As a momma of 6 kiddos the time and paper it took to wrap ALL those gifts (while hiding and freezing in our moterhome/Santa's workshop for hours while my kiddos torn up the house!
ReplyDeleteNow I say inside and sew while watching the kiddos. I make all sizes. Then it only take 1/4 of the time to wrap things up.
I have my 2 youngest kiddos girls now 4 and 6 make To/From gift tags. We covered cardboard with white paper then cut up the cardboard ceral box into squares. You could use pinkinshears for a fancy edge. I then let the girls hole punch them so to attach it with ribbon to the gift and use stamps to decorate them...all while I sewed!
I really loved last Christmas! It was very different in such a wonderfully good way!
Great post!
Peace,
Georgiann
Good idea to get the kids involved making gift tags. I love my pinking shears, too! They make everything better, don't they?
ReplyDelete