gift wrapping ideas - basic fabric wrap & homemade gift tag

I'm busy wrapping myfuroshiki fabulous floral gift sets ready for the Ilkley Arts Market next Saturday and the Christmas Charity Craft Fair in Saltaire on Sunday, using a basic, otsukai tsutsumi, wrap.  Here's how it's done.

Gather the items to be wrapped - in this case the bag handles, wrapping instructions, little origami crane (a tiny treat) and larger furoshiki

and place in the centre of the wrapping furoshiki, across the diagonal (I've folded the larger furoshiki around the handles etc to make a neat pile).

Starting from the bottom corner, roll the gift up in the furoshiki.

Start to tie a reef (square knot) bringing the lefthand corner over then under the right hand one.

Take your gift tag, if using.  I've threaded some beads and a bell onto a piece of ribbon and knotted it to form a loop, then threaded on a pretty piece of card (you could cut up and recycle last year's cards for this).  The decorated ribbon can then be reused as a little decoration or as the basis for another gift tag.

 

Thread the ribbon onto the left hand corner of the furoshiki wrap

and complete the reef (square) knot by bringing the lefthand corner up over and then under the right hand one.

 

And that's it, a pretty, easy, eco-friendly gift wrap!  

ps These sets are also available on Folksy and Etsy, and in red and green fabric - please take a look.

Take a moment

 

(photo by Heidi Burton)

It can be so busy at this time of year - presents to choose, gifts to wrap (with furoshiki, of course!) cards to write and family and friends to visit.  This afternoon, however, I'm going to take a few moments and settle down to browse through the winter issue of UK Handmade Magazine. 

It's packed full of interviews from UK based designers, Scandinavian inspired articles and treats as well as a wealth of useful business articles, events, tutorials and reviews - and it's free!  I am so impressed with all the very hard work that Anna Stassen and Karen Jinks and the rest of the UK Handmade team voluntarily put in to create such a high quality magazine.

And, being online, it's available immediately, at the click of a mouse and is carbon neutral - the perfect treat!

Snow go!

Well, the snow is still with us and a heavy fall on Wednesday made the roads too treacherous for me to venture out to the Baildon at Christmas craft market.  This was such a shame as it was a lovely event last year with a great atmosphere.  The same spirit seems to have prevailed this year though with some, more local, crafters truding through the snow and bringing their stock by sledge, in order to take part!

Tomorrow our son was due to have run in the ESAA Cross Country Cup final.  We were really looking forward to this as, having been held in Newquay in Cornwall last year, it was in the slightly more accessible Alnwick this year and, even better, in the grounds of Hogwarts :)  itself ...

(image via zoewanamaker)

which at the moment looks rather more like this ...

(image via ESAA)

... and so the race has been rescheduled to March.

But, GOOD NEWS, this does mean that myfuroshiki will now be at tonight's Eclectic Stitch

... weather permitting!!

Christmas is coming!

We've woken this morning to a very pretty wintry scene with clear blue skies and a dusting of snow on the hills and roofs.  I'm looking forward to making the Christmas pudding, following our traditional family recipe and, looking back to when I blogged about it last year, my tradition of being a week late in making it (apparently Stir Up Sunday was last week!).

Whilst the pudding is steaming I'll write our Christmas cards to family and friends who are overseas so I can get their parcels posted in time to meet the Royal Mail's recommended last posting dates.  I'm always surprised to find how early they are:

International Airmail

Monday 6 December South & Central America, Caribbean, Africa, Middle East, Asia, Far East (including Japan), Australia  and New Zealand

Friday 10 December Eastern Europe, USA and Canada

Monday 13 December Western Europe

UK

Wednesday 15 December Standard Parcels

Saturday 18 December Second Class

Tuesday 21 December First Class

I will, of course, post myfuroshiki orders as soon as I can.

Ta da!

Time for a little bit of furoshiki-ing in a day packed full of sport (cricket, cross country - well done, Thomas! :) - and rugby to come).  Just thought I'd sneak in a couple of pictures of our new style wrapping instructions, which form a wrap in themselves.  Perhaps a little fancifully I was thinking of kimono belts - with the paper folded to show two different layers and everything held in place by a recycled offcut of fabric, left from when I hemmed the furoshiki.  Must dash to watch the rugby and wrap some more...

 

Folksy festive sampler

Just heard that we're likely to have snow this week - definitely time to settle down inside, with a nice cup of something warm, for a browse through the folksy festive sampler.

Open publication - Free publishing - More artists

Reusable by design

 A new addition to the family - a very warm welcome and big cheer for my sister Olivia's gorgeous new venture, cloth&card!

Olivia and I started out together with myfuroshiki in 2009, but this year Oli has branched out to develop the concept of co-ordinating recycled, reusable cards, hence the creation of cloth&card.  She has a beautiful range of gift wraps and matching cards made from fabric and recycled card available through Etsy and the Australian Made-It site including some lovely Christmas fabrics.