How to Make Wrapping Ecofriendly this Christmas

From using fabric scraps lying around and embroidering a reusable gift box to wrapping with fabric that is part of the gift or sealing with recyclable washi tape, there are so many ways you can make this year's Christmas a little more ecofriendly! While we admit there is nothing like ripping into some wrapping paper, the huge amount of rubbish that results from Christmas time is astounding, and as crafters, there are lots of ways we can reduce and reuse. In this article, we list a few of our favourite ways to wrap.

Fabric Scraps Furoshiki Style

There is a wrapping style in Japan called furoshiki - the art of wrapping gifts with reusable fabric, a style that has been practiced in the country since the Edo Period. Traditionally, this was done with expensive fabrics, tied in a very specific way. Today, this practice is done worldwide, often in a very intuitive way.

I grabbed some scraps of our Sweet Pea range from our fabric bins and wrapped some small gifts with them to test it out. With so many scraps when embroidering, this is a great way to use them up, while also providing some pretty fabric to the giftee to either reuse for more wrapping, or something crafty, if they are so inclined!

Using Pretty In Ink Fabric

Using Sweet Shoppe Fabric

Wrapping as Part of the Present

This overlaps a little with the last idea where the packaging you use is also a gift for the receiver. However, this time I decided to see what kinds of materials I could use that are a little different to the obvious fabric option, as well as items that are not scraps, but rather brand new so the giftee gets the full size product as part of their gift! Pretty much any of our fabrics could be used for this - cork fabrics, PU faux leather, mesh, or mylar - but I tested out mesh and mylar (on sale right now!)

Mesh and mylar both work great for pretty much any shape - I tried a book and a bottle for both and it created a really unique, pretty effect, and looked really full using all of it in one go!

Reusable Gift Boxes and Card Holders

Of course, this wouldn't be a Sweet Pea embroidery blog without talking about how our designs could be used! We have so many Christmas gift bags, tags, and card holders you can stitch out that can be reused again and again, whether it's for future gifts or just as cute storage in the home during the festive season!

We recently released a few great designs that can hold everything from gift cards and money to chocolate, candles, and so much more.

Wrapping You Can Recycle or Compost

Finally, tried and true but sometimes forgotten - the art of wrapping that can be reused, recycled, and composted. There are so many ways to do this - use packing paper from gifts you order online, hold on to gift bags from previous years, and taping your packaging with something recyclable like washi tape.

We use our washi tape in our embroidery projects everyday, but they are also great for gifts, particular when reusing packing paper as then all the wrapping can go straight into recycling!

So, why not get creative with your holiday gifting while also being kind to the planet. Reusable and multifunctional wrapping and crafts make it easy to create gift wraps that can be used again and again - and right now, we have gift wrap designs and supplies on sale, so you can do it for less too!