Did you know that there is a 25% increase in the amount of garbage we dispose of around the holidays? And most of it is packaging and wrapping paper. According to an article in The Atlantic (12/22/12) we spend $2.6 billion annually on wrapping paper. Wasteful!
Cloth wrapping has been used in traditional cultures for over 1,200 years and is still used today by many wise parents. Furoshiki is the ancient art of cloth wrapping from Japan which is elegant, practical and eco-friendly. In Korea it's called Bojagi and is often silk or hemp patchwork cloth.
Another advantage is that different shaped gifts are easier to wrap with cloth. Here are some ideas:
We love how simple and beautiful cloth wrap is. And your wrapping becomes another gift or can be used year after year.
Playsilks are especially beautiful as wrapping because of how luminescent and shiny the colors are. Plus, after the gifts are open the children can play with them!
Our starter set of silk wrappings is available here.
Leave a comment about your ideas for reusable gift wrapping below and enter to win a Holiday Gift Wrap Set!
Two winners will be chosen 11/14/18.
We wrap in newspaper, kids artwork, brown paper grocery bags and then have the kids decorate them. I love the cloth idea, may have to use some scrap fabric in addition to some silks! 😊🤞
Christina Gross on
I made reusable cloth gift bags, and I also reuse (many many times) gift bags that I get from others!
Meera on
I love this!! We use reusable cloth bags I have sewn to match our over decorating colors. I made three different sizes! I also made some for my SIL as we are both on board with using more reusable products!!
K Meyer on
In all my search for Eco Friendly wrapping, I never saw this, until now! I usually wrap in magazine pages of other things paper that can have a second life .. but oh my stars this is absolutely BEAUTIFUL!! It can live on forever!
Meredith Whitney Dozier on
Nothing novel here: we reuse gift bags or wrap gifts in children’s art or scrap paper. But, I love the idea of wrapping a gift in another gift.
Julie on
I typically try to use a gift wrap that is part of the gift. I absolutely love the silks and the gorgeous color for this purpose. Yes, lets reduce the trash or recycling component for this beautiful option!
Leslie Primus on
What a wonderful idea! I often use paper bags from my groceries as wrapping paper as a way to cut down on waste. I love the idea of using the silks as wrapping because it adds more to the gift. Beautiful!
Joanna on
Silks would make a beautiful new tradition. My mom and I have been exchanging a gift back and forth using the same pretty box for 20yrs. ❤
Megin Maegdlin on
We love this. My husband is especially good at it and we get lots of inspiration from Japan. I’m excited to see you are promoting this. Thank you!
Nicole Johnson on
I love this idea SO much. We talked about leaving our silks out for Santa so that he didn’t have to worry about bringing more paper to our home, and to help save the earth. In the last we have decorated old paper shopping bags, but I feel like we can do better with things that are not meant for a landfill or recycling station!
Stacy on
For smaller gifts my kids have used large sheets of paper we’ve had laying around the house, then decorated the outside with markers and stickers. We’ve also used newspapers.
Sarah Hurlbut on
I love this idea. I tend to be someone who likes to reuse gift bags over and over for gifts. My family will even give me their bags because they know I will take them and reuse them. I always think it is great to reuse things if I am a or instead of buying something new (even if it is something eco-friendly) if possible. I really like this idea though and would’ve never thought about it. I also like when the packaging itself is a gift. For example, putting a gift inside a nice storage box (my daughter still has one from the baby shower when I was pregnant with her).
DeShea Jones on