Etsy Monday Kimshi Boutique Furoshiki

Using and re-using fabric as gift wrap is definitely worth learning. Kimshi Boutique sells great sized Furoshiki, and you can get some great ideas on how to use and re-use from their shop.

Pretty fabric in a simple wrap

This pretty cotton voile fabric has a very country feel

Pretty fabric

Used with wooden handles to make a great bag after the fact

Etsy Monday Furoshiki at TheLinkCollective

Furoshiki (風呂敷) can refer to traditional Japanese wrapping cloth traditionally used to transport clothes, gifts, or other goods. The Link Collective on Etsy sells some beautifully  designed Furoshiki. Shop Owner Kyoko says:

"Each of our products has been hand printed in Japan, using traditional printing techniques. We are working with a great printing company called Chiffonez in Tokyo, who specialize in the printing of furoshiki. To make sure we get the best results possible, we keep a close dialogue with the printers, retaining a good balance between our ideas and their invaluable knowledge."

The lucky recipient will be getting many gifts in one. These are just some of the items that caught my eye: 

Arcs Furoshiki

Wrap used as a scarf

And as gift wrap

There were so many here that I fell in love with. I am a scarf collector anyway, so this is definitely a place I will visit again and again.

Hida Express

Hida Express as a beautiful scarf

Another option they offer is adding a leather carry strap, turning it into a textile handbag.

Stockholm Grey Furoshiki and Leather strap

Stockholm Grey Furoshiki being used as a pillow cover.

Furoshiki My Way

I have been interested in Furoshiki for some time now. It is a Japanese form of gift wrapping, using fabric. The best explanation I have found for this was from this post at Style Blueprint:

Exhaustive article on furoshiki gift wrapping.

The video at the link above is really good, and makes it easy to recreate a number of nifty folds. I chose to copy the picture above, mainly because I could not get the folds as even as I wanted with the fabric I had.  There are beautiful fabrics you can buy designed for this, but you can also just use fabric you happen to have around.  With a birthday coming up too fast, that is what I did:

Furoshiki My Way

It's easy to tote around too!

So here are all the things I liked about Furoshiki:

1) Eco friendly.  Self explanatory.
2) Forgiving.  Fabric has more give than paper. I wrapped up 5 or 6 gifts in this parcel and was able to tuck things I had forgotten to include into the bundle easily.
3) A way to use up all the random scarves, fabric scraps etc. I cannot bear to get rid of.

And what I don't like:

1) There is just something more finished about wrapping with paper. It looks neater somehow.

This probably won't be the last time I use this method, and it sure did the trick for this birthday!