Posted on

Eco Friendly Gift Wrapping Ideas

eco friendly gift wrapping with newspaper

I decided to try and avoid buying wrapping paper as much as possible a while ago, as it seems awfully wasteful. As a result I’ve been investigating more eco-friendly gift wrapping ideas and, although I’m still learning, I thought you might like to hear about some of them.

Not everyone realises that the majority of wrapping paper isn’t recyclable. While plain paper is, most gift wrap has plastic coating, glitter and/or synthetic inks added which means it’s destined for landfill rather than recycling. As a very general rule if you crumple the paper up and it stays crumpled then it may be recyclable, but if not then it’s almost certainly got plastic in it.

The great thing about switching to more eco friendly gift wrapping is that it is also usually more economical, so even if you’re just a cheapskate it’s still worth it 😆

Reusing for more eco friendly gift wrapping

Reuse old gift wrapping

The most obvious way to do this is by reusing gift bags and the wrapping paper that gifts you receive come in. If the wrapping paper is a bit wrinkled, then an iron can sometimes help with this. If the paper is plain and a bit wrinkled, then you can also crumple it up really well then flatten it back out again for a lovely crinkled effect. Add some ribbon and a gift tag and you have something that looks like it came from a boutique!

Save up bits and pieces

You can create some really gorgeous gift wrapping by saving up odds and end to reuse. As well as you can reuse tissue paper from clothes and other package deliveries as well as newspaper. I’ve seen some truly gorgeous gift wrapping ideas on Pinterest using newspaper so decided to try it myself. Here’s my effort using scraps of ribbon and two sprigs of lavender, which I think looks quite acceptable:

eco friendly gift wrapping with newspaper
You can also make gift bags from newspaper using the instructions in this blog post.

However I will add that newspaper looks best with just the text. And these days it is quite difficult to find large sections of text without photographs so it’s more suited to a small gift. You also have to be careful what text is on there. Obituaries or bad politics can give the wrong message 😁. One tip I’ve come across is to use foreign newspapers, which seems like a good solution if you can find one.

And of course if you don’t have any newspaper lying around already then buying some only makes sense if you’re going to use the majority of it for something else…

Old boxes can also be decorated to create lovely gift boxes of all shapes and sizes. You can paint them, cover them with fabric or paper scraps (or newspaper), or if they’re pretty enough leave them as is and just cover any logos up with a sticker or gift tag.

You can even use old toilet roll tubes to make cute little gift boxes! Take a look at this video to see how…


Other things that are worth saving to decorate your gift wrapping with are ribbons, string, buttons and fabric. As well as being more eco-friendly you’ll be known for always wrapping gifts beautifully! I have a drawer with all sorts of little bits and pieces in that I’ve kept, including stuff like the twist ties on Christmas crackers and the ribbon and bells that come with Lindt bunnies.

eco friendly gift wrapping using brown paper
Photo by Lore Schodts on Unsplash

All these odds and ends would usually go in the bin, but this way they get used at least one more time before this happens. You might inspire the recipient to reuse them again too when they see your gorgeous gift wrapping! 😃

Use charity shop finds

You can also gather up gift wrapping supplies from charity shops. As well as reusing old stuff you’ll also be supporting the charity. They’re usually pretty inexpensive too. Look for sheet music, old maps or fabric for wrapping in. And any type of haberdashery, faux flowers/leaves and brooches are all great to decorate with. Some clothing that has seen better days could also be cut up and used if the fabric is pretty.

You can easily make a fabric gift bag by sewing a rectangle with one end open. Either sew a seam to thread ribbon or string through and gather,  add a button and loop to fold the top over, or just create ribbon handles.
Oxfam also often sells fair trade and sustainable gift wrapping options. If you don’t want to buy second hand it’s worth taking a look around there.

Other eco friendly gift wrapping ideas

You could use these pretty recycled sari shopping bags from Oxfam to wrap a gift and it can then be used by the recipient afterwards too.

If you are giving a scarf as part of a present, use it to wrap the rest of the gift in. There are loads of videos on YouTube to show you how to do this.

Another very eco-friendly idea is to use a Furoshiki cloth to wrap present in. You can read all about Furoshiki techniques for wrapping gifts here. You can use any square piece of fabric for this or buy one like this example on Etsy.

Furoshiki wrapping cloths from TabithaEveCo on Etsy
Furoshiki wrapping cloths from TabithaEveCo on Etsy

Furoshiki cloths originated in Japan. The tradition is for the recipient to return the Furoshiki cloth to the gift giver to be reused. However even if you don’t get it back they’re unlikely to throw out something so pretty!

Recyclable options

Use plain brown or white paper – it can be more easily recycled. It’s definitely preferable to buying decorative wrapping papers that are likely to end up in landfill. A brightly coloured ribbon and gift tag is enough to make it look pretty (see below), or use any other bits and pieces, such as buttons, string, dried leaves or flowers, to decorate with. You can also draw or stamp onto the paper to spruce it up if you like.

Wrapped gift with gift tag
Seed paper is another terrific eco friendly option which also looks very upmarket. The paper contains seeds in it and can be planted afterwards. You can even print on some of them with an inkjet printer, like these from LittleGreenPaperShop on Etsy:

eco friendly gift wrapping - plantable seed paper
Plantable seed paper from LittleGreenPaperShop on Etsy

Other considerations

Ribbon or string is a much more environmentally friendly way to secure your gift wrapping than using sellotape. However if you do need to use some tape then try paper washi-tape. It’s pretty as well as being easier to recycle.
Finally, it’s also worth considering the environment when it comes to cards. I tend to only give cards to extra special people on extra special occasions and I make sure that all the greeting cards I create are printed on FSC® certified card stock. This means the materials used to make the product have been ethically sourced from well-managed and sustainable forests.

What ideas to you have to make your gift wrapping more eco friendly? I’d love to see your ideas on social media so please tag me if you post something along these lines.

Posted on

Furoshiki Techniques for Eco Friendly Gift Wrapping

Furoshiki Techniques

Are you looking for more eco-friendly ways to wrap gifts? If so, using a furoshiki cloth is about as green as you can get. There are several different furoshiki techniques to suit a variety of gifts shapes and sizes, so it’s as versatile as it is environmentally friendly. And it looks beautiful!

Furoshiki techniques

What is Furoshiki?

Furoshiki refers to a type of traditional Japanese wrapping cloth. Although we’re talking about Furoshiki as a gift wrapping technique here, it’s original purpose was quite different. Fabric was used centuries ago to wrap imperial treasures to keep them safe while being stored. It was later used to describe the fabric used at communal bathing houses, where the fabric was used to bundle up belongings and as a mat. The literal translation of Furoshiki is ‘Bath-spread’ (Furo means Bathing and Shiki means Spread).

Later on Furoshiki cloths were used to protect wares during transportation by merchants and to protect and decorate gifts, and it has now become a popular way to wrap gifts not only in Japan but also around the world. It is also still sometimes used as a bag for carrying things around.

But you didn’t come here for a history lesson, did you? 😁

Furoshiki wrapping techniques

There are plenty of different ways to wrap gifts with a furoshiki cloth. The square piece of cloth can be plain or patterned, and can be made from silk, cotton, nylon or any other fabric which is not too stiff. Furoshiki cloths come in all sizes so can be used to wrap big or small gifts.

Basic Furoshiki technique

The basic Furoshiki technique is for wrapping a square or rectangular gift. Here’s a step by step guide to show you how to go about it:

Basic Furoshiki Technique
Basic Furoshiki Technique
  1. Place the gift diagonally in the centre of the cloth.
  2. Fold the cloth along the one side of the gift.
  3. Wrap the corner over the top of the gift.
  4. Tuck excess corner under the gift.
  5. Repeat on the other side.
  6. Fold one of the loose ends neatly over the top of the gift.
  7. Repeat on the other side.
  8. take the two corners of these loose ends and tie in a double knot, then arrange the knot nicely to look like a bow.

It might take a bit of practice to get steps 6. to 8. to look neat but you’ll soon get the hang of it. If you’re struggling to get the corners to tie a double knot then your Furoshiki cloth might be too small for the gift. The knot also creates a handy carrying handle!

If you’d rather watch a video of how to do this, here’s a good one:

You can also use this basic technique to experiment with a variety of different knots and tucking techniques for your own creative take on it.

Furoshiki techniques for bottles

Furoshiki is also great for wrapping bottles. Here’s a step by step guide to this technique:

Furoshiki Bottle Wrapping
Furoshiki Bottle Wrapping Technique
  1. Place the bottle in the middle of the cloth and left two diagonally opposite corners.
  2. Tie the corners in a double knot on the top of the bottle.
  3. Take the other two corners and wrap them in opposite directions around the middle of the bottle.
  4. Tie these corners in a double knot in the middle of the bottle.

It’s actually pretty easy but still looks very impressive!

You can also take a look at this video for three fancy ways to wrap two bottles at once using a Furoshiki cloth.
Give these Furoshiki techniques a go to wrap both boxes and bottles. You can adapt them and experiment to create your own beautiful gift packaging.

You can get Furoshiki cloths on Etsy, Amazon and plenty of other online places – here’s a gorgeous reversible one from Etsy:

48cm Isa Monyo Reversible Furoshiki | Japanese Apricot Blue/Beige
48cm Isa Monyo Reversible Furoshiki

(Just so you know, this is an affiliate link so if you click &buy I’ll get a small commission, but it won’t cost you anything.)
In traditional Japanese culture the Furoshiki cloth is always returned to the gift giver so it can be reused so it’s the ultimate eco-friendly gift wrapping. Feel a bit cheeky asking for it back? They’re unlike to throw the cloth away and they can reuse it for all sorts of things. You might even inspire the recipient to wrap their next gift to someone in it! Let’s make it a thing 😃

Posted on

Creative Inspiration: A book review

The Joy of Watercolor - Emma Block

Everyone needs a bit of creative inspiration now and then, and I’m no different. I think it’s important to keep learning and stay creative, and books are my favourite way of doing this. Fiction teaches me more about other people by putting me in someone else’s shoes for a while. And non-fiction teaches me more about myself and hopefully helps me to be better at art, in my greeting card business and with life in general.

The Joy of Watercolor by Emma Block

This week I’m reviewing Emma Block’s book, The Joy of Watercolor: 40 Happy Lessons for Painting the World Around You. I’ve been a fan of her work for a while, and have dabbled a bit with watercolours, so decided to treat myself at the beginning of lockdown. I bought it on Amazon and if you click the picture to the right you’ll be taken there to buy the book if you fancy a copy of your own. (The links are affiliate links, so if you do buy I will get a small commission, but it won’t cost you anything extra.)

What I love about Emma’s painting is that she manages to make everything look so fresh and modern. A lot of watercolour paintings are a bit wishy washy and, while still beautiful, all seem to end up looking the same.

What creative inspiration is in the book?

Emma Block starts the book with an introduction and short history of watercolours and how she got started with them. She then goes into a bit of depth regarding the materials you need or can use, including paints, brushes, paper and more. There is also a section on colour theory and some exercises to practise mixing colours and using different techniques.

In terms of creative inspiration, the bulk of the book is made up of the 40 projects she walks you through. Projects are divided up into sections: Flowers, Fruit, Plants, Objects, etc. There is also a section on Painting on Location. The projects are also labelled as Beginner, Intermediate or Advanced, so there’s a range of difficulty levels to suit anyone. Within each project she lets you know what tools or materials you’ll need and the colours she used. She then talks you through the steps of recreating the paintings, with her own drawings and paintings to demonstrate.

The first project I worked on was the Blue Hydrangeas (I love love LOVE hydrangeas). It’s a Beginner project. I think I made the mistake of overdoing it, so mine doesn’t have the same simple appeal as her one. I’m not massively proud of it, as it’s a bit blurry and doesn’t have much contrast, but it was a good lesson to learn! And hopefully I’ll get better with practice. It was also fun to do something different from the cartoon portraits I usually spend my time drawing 😁.

Creative Inspiration: Blue Hydrangea

Would I recommend it?

Yes, I’d definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in watercolour painting. It’s just as lovely to page through and look at Emma’s paintings as it is to work on the projects yourself. Not sure why the American spelling of ‘watercolor’ is used as Emma Block is British and works and teaches classes in London, but this obviously doesn’t affect the book itself or the gorgeous pictures in it.

The book would also make a terrific gift for someone else who is a bit arty. Whether they’re just looking for creative inspiration or want to have a go at watercolour painting themselves, I’m sure they’d love it.

Posted on

Designing Greeting Cards Digitally

Designing Greeting Cards - my custom cartoon portrait process

A while ago I described how I create custom cartoon portraits when designing greeting cards to order. My drawing process has changed a bit since then though, so I thought I’d do an update.

I designed the cartoon portrait below for a graduation card using my new process so I’ve used it as an example. There’s another example at the end of this post too, which shows an anniversary cartoon portrait.

The main reason for the change is that I finally invested in an iPad and Apple Pencil for my greeting card business. And I’m so glad I did! Designing greeting cards digitally has made the process much quicker, both for drawing custom cartoon portraits and for creating other new greeting card designs.

I chose to use Procreate, which is an amazing drawing app. It has zillions of different ‘brushes’, including all sorts of pencils, pens, paints, chalks, charcoals and textures. Even aside from drawing designs for greeting cards I’ve had terrific fun experimenting and creating all sorts of weird stuff! And it’s all available instantly, which means I don’t need extra time to be able to unpack my art materials and put them away again afterwards.

Here’s one of the ‘paintings’ I created just to get used to what I could do with my new tools:

bottle with flowers

But back to my drawing process when designing greeting cards…

Creating custom cartoon portraits

I start by creating a canvas of the right size and then use the ‘6B Pencil’ to sketch the drawing in – this part is almost identical to how I started on paper (see here) except that I’m drawing straight onto the iPad with the Apple Pencil, instead of using a real pencil and paper. Next I sketch out the basic outlines and then fill in details until I’m happy with the overall drawing.

Pencil sketch
I then create a new layer above the pencil sketch. On this new layer I draw over the pencil sketch with the ‘Studio Pen’. (I find it gives a very similar look to the brush pens I use on paper). This part is where I save a lot of time, as if I make a mistake I can just erase and redo it. Before I had to leave it then edit it in my Gimp software using a mouse, which wasn’t that easy.

I also love that I can zoom right in (especially useful as my eyesight is awful!) This lets me get smaller details just right and get rid of small marks and mistakes. I keep hiding and reshowing the pencil layer as necessary until the pen completely replaces it.

Ink drawing
Once I’m satisfied with the ‘ink’ drawing I add the colours and then share it to my Mac. This is so much easier than scanning it in then removing any noise and marks from the scanner, adjusting the brightness and colour balance, etc. It’s just a simple AirDrop and I can add the image to a greeting card template I’ve created straight away.

Designing greeting cards - custom cartoon portrait

Designing Greeting Cards Videos

Another terrific feature on Procreate is that it creates a video replay of your creations. Would you like to see the full drawing process from start to finish for the cartoon portrait above? Well, here’s the video replay of it:

And here’s another – this time of a wedding cartoon portrait for an anniversary card.

So all in all I’m thrilled with my new purchases! Doing cartoon portraits is much quicker and easier. And I’ve been able to use it to draw quick images for blog posts or to design greeting cards for my ready to ship range as well.

If you’d like to see my range of greeting cards, including custom cartoon portraits and ready to ship cards, click on the Visit my shop button below or use the Menu.

VISIT MY SHOP
Posted on

Homemade edible gifts

homemade cupcakes gift

Left it a bit late to buy a gift? Not quite sure what to get? Homemade edible gifts are a terrific solution as you can whip them up yourself really quickly. And everyone has to eat, right? At the most you might need to make a quick trip to the supermarket and spend a few minutes to an hour actually making the edibles, so within a couple of hours you’ve got yourself a fabulous present to give that is much more personal than anything you could’ve bought elsewhere anyway 😃

How much effort you put into making your edible gifts is completely up to you. If you’re in a bit of a rush then you can just assemble a variety of bought treats in a basket or hamper. If you have some time to spare but not much budget then making something from scratch will usually work out cheaper. Or you can go for something in-between.

Ideas for homemade edible gifts

Whether you’re making them yourself, or just assembling a selection of yummy things you’ve bought in a shop, there are so many things you can choose from:

  • Biscuits – sweet or savoury
  • Chocolate or sweets – homemade or bought
  • Toffee or fudge
  • Macarons, cake pops, cupcakes or muffins
  • A whole cake!
  • Tray bakes or bars
  • Ingredients e.g. to make a cake or biscuits – these look great layered in a jar
  • Coffee, tea or hot chocolate – it’s generally best to go posh with these
  • Jams or chutneys
  • Themed seasonings for keen cooks e.g. for Indian food, or a range of different fancy salts or peppers
  • Dried, candied or fresh fruit

If you’re looking for edible gift recipes and more ideas then take a look at Pinterest – there are loads of ideas on there.

homemade biscuits
Photo by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash

Presentation ideas for your homemade gifts

  • Hampers and ‘bouquets’ – for anything and everything
  • Mason jars – for baking mixes, biscuits, sweets, etc
  • Boxes – for tray bakes, cupcakes, muffins and whole cakes
  • Tins – for biscuits, cupcakes, tray bakes or whole cakes, depending on the shape and size
  • Gift bags – best for packaged foods (make your own gift bags)

These are just some ideas but you can be as creative as you like – it’s a great way to get rid of containers that are too nice to throw away but that you don’t really want anymore 😁

Homemade edible gift in box
Photo by Jennifer Schmidt on Unsplash

Making it personal

A handmade edible gift is already more personal than something bought in a shop, but by putting some extra thought into it you can make it even more so. If you have friends who are vegan, coeliacs, on low carb diets or are just known for being coffee freaks or chocoholics you can show how well you know them by creating a gift that really suits them. It’s so easy to Google recipes for all sorts of preferences, allergies and fetishes!
You can also personalise the way you present your gift, for example by making a cute label for the jar or tin, or decorating the cake you’ve baked with their name in icing.

Why homemade edible gifts are the BEST

There are so many reasons why a homemade edible gift is so fabulous to give…

  • Shows how thoughtful you are and that you really know the person it’s for
  • Can be whipped up in a very short space of time
  • Generally costs less than an equivalent bought elsewhere
  • Gets eaten up so you can keep giving the same terrific gift over and over again
  • If for some reason they’re not too keen on it they can get friends or family to finish it off without you ever knowing… it’s much harder to pass on other types of unwanted gifts 😆
  • And they don’t have to find space for it if they don’t want to – they can just eat it all up straight away!

I know I love getting homemade gifts, especially if I can eat them… and I don’t think I’m that unusual. Give it a go. And if you post your awesome homemade edibles on social media, please tag me – I’d love to see!

Did you enjoy this article? If so, why not become a VIP subscriber? In addition to getting all the latest from here straight to your inbox, you will also get 15% off in my online card shop.

become a vip now