Tuesday, December 22, 2009

A little less paper...

Don't get me wrong - I love paper with an undying passion. But I'm trying to use it in smaller doses, particularly when it comes to wrapping gifts. There's something about a big pile of crumpled wrapping paper that makes me feel sad.

This year almost everything is wrapped in felt. Mostly because it's the easiest fabric to work with - easy to cut, no need to hem all the edges, and very sturdy.

felt gift wrap
{felt gift wrap}

Making the pouches is easy. You basically just act like you're going to wrap the item, but you use cloth instead of paper and you run little seams down the edges. Make sure to leave a flap open so you can slip the item in and out. You could design these lots of different ways, depending on your sewing skills. I used some of the fancy stitches on my sewing machine, but you can also handstitch with some thick embroidery thread and it will look just fine.

Some of mine close with a ribbon. I just cut a slit in the folded over flap and then sewed a ribbon to the front of the package. To close, you just pull both sides of the ribbon through the slit and then tie a bow.

felt gift wrap
{open}

felt gift wrap
{closed}

Others close with a button. Again, you cut a slit in the folded over flap and then you just sew a button to the bottom half of the package.

felt gift wrap
{buttoned}

The goal is to have them in a variety of sizes and use them every year. They actually take up a lot less space than a jumble of wrapping paper rolls. They work best for grown up gifts like books, CDs, DVDs and jewelry, which happen to be the kinds of gifts I give most often.

42 comments:

  1. These are genius. If only my family wasn't scattered every which way across the country.... I guess the packages could become a part of the gift.

    ReplyDelete
  2. i love this idea... i wish i was crafty enough to pull this off!

    ReplyDelete
  3. oh my goodness you are just too cute and creative!
    i hate looking at all the crumbled wrapping paper too!

    ReplyDelete
  4. How very creative! But was it a lot more expensive than the paper?

    ReplyDelete
  5. here you are back with more genius gift packaging ideas. you should sell these on etsy too!

    ReplyDelete
  6. and they look great with your chalkboard tags

    ReplyDelete
  7. brilliant. and pretty, to boot. seeing the heap of crumpled pretty paper makes me feel a little depressed too. this is a beautiful solution.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Again with the genius! Here I am, trying to figure out how to wrap a video game for my dad, and you come along with your felt envelope idea. Goodness knows I have a TON of felt left over from ornaments last year, and I have some ribbon, too. Thanks for the how-to!

    ReplyDelete
  9. i am beyond impressed with your patience...i barely even wrap my gifts! these are so pretty.

    ReplyDelete
  10. this seems like such an obvious idea--but i have obviously never thought of it! so simply lovely in its very own way and i adore it! great idea!

    ReplyDelete
  11. what a wonderful idea!!! thank you so much for sharing with us.
    sandra

    ReplyDelete
  12. I lub felt for wrapping, though my creations lack such lovely stitching. That sewing machine has proven itself splendid!

    ReplyDelete
  13. What an absolutely wonderful idea! This is the most beautiful of wrapping. Looks like it makes the gift extra special. Even better than paper.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thanks, guys!

    As far as cost goes, I actually think I'll come out way ahead on this one. Felt is fairly inexpensive (I went to my favorite fabric store and had it cut off the bolt, because those little felt squares you get at the craft store are not only small, they're also pretty poor quality felt) and since we'll re-use these every year and I'll probably end up making just one or two more each year, we won't need to buy wrapping paper.

    Time wise, same thing. I spent a day making these to wrap all our gifts this year, but when we wrap next year it will just be a matter of slipping gifts into the felt wrappers. We have a pretty good range of sizes, so I think they'll work for almost everything.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Rachel, this is such a good idea! You've inspired me for this year as I think I have some good felt that would be just the ticket for such a project!

    ReplyDelete
  16. This is a great idea! I'm completely excited to try this out the next time I give a gift. Thank you so much for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  17. This is the best paper-free wrapping technique I've seen! All my gifts are already wrapped (in recycled kraft paper), but I'm definitely bookmarking this for next year. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Wow. Seriously gorgeous, smart and elegant. I really like how you do the holidays, lady. I'm personally a total felt nerd--love the stuff as much as I love thick, creamy paper--so I gushed a little about your idea over at my blog today. Hope that's OK :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. I hate throwing out all that paper too. Last year I made reusable fabric Christmas bags & turned paper shopping bags into gift bags.

    http://craftyfashion.blogspot.com/2008/12/christmas-eco-wrapping.html
    Looks pretty & is better for the environment.

    ReplyDelete
  20. This is such an elegant and beautiful way to wrap gifts!

    ReplyDelete
  21. These are dashingly beautiful, and I am sure the recipeint will love to use them again and again!

    ReplyDelete
  22. These are great! You do such good things!

    ReplyDelete
  23. So pretty! And I just bought some yummy charcoal grey felt today-it must be a sign. :)

    ReplyDelete
  24. These look very sweet. Great idea. I think it would be difficult to wrangle them back off the present recipient owing to their cuteness. But then I think perhaps they would use them to wrap a present in the future and less paper would still be being used overall!

    ReplyDelete
  25. This is such a great idea! My best friend did fabric wrapping this year, and it looks so much fancier than holiday foil snowflake wrapping paper ever could.

    ReplyDelete
  26. L-O-V-E this! I will jot it down in my holiday notebook and try this next year. I agree on the use of all that paper. This is fabulous.

    ReplyDelete
  27. absolutely gorgeous.
    wow.
    just love them all.
    beautiful idea!
    thanks so much for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  28. so very impressive. lovely work!

    ReplyDelete
  29. Gorgeous! You put my wrapping paper to shame. :)

    ReplyDelete
  30. GREAT idea. Makes even an "unthoughtful" gift like a gift card more thoughtful. Will definately do this next year and even for birthdays coming up. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  31. ditto above ^^
    this would be great way to make gift cards a little more special.

    ReplyDelete
  32. That's a great idea! You don't mind if I do that do you? I have a lot of leftover felt from old school projects of mine and my brother that are collecting dust in a box. :) Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  33. They look amazing! wish I had seen this earlier. The pouches are reusable and look too cute!

    ReplyDelete
  34. I must send you something that will inspire you for another sort of "green" wrap~
    Your felt bags are so chic.
    pve

    ReplyDelete
  35. Awesome! I'm going to have to do this next year.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Lovely idea... so wish I'd seen this before Xmas. There is next year though. Liking your blog too btw :)

    ReplyDelete
  37. Bravo! I hadn't thought of putting the gift in the felt as if it were paper. It makes so much sense to make custom-sized pouches for each gift.

    I write a blog about gift wrapping (www.thegiftedblog.com). Would be alright to share your idea? I'll either link to it or write a post about it if it's alright by you.

    Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  38. What a great idea - and your photos are so beautiful! I was just in the fabric store yesterday and saw that felt was on sale... I thought to myself - if only I knew what to do with it... Well, I guess I'll be going back to get some! Thank you for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  39. Hi again - great! I look forward to writing about these - likely at the end of February or so. (I know, I'm a planner...) Thank you again for posting about this - I am enjoying perusing your blog!

    ReplyDelete

Trying captchas this time - better or worse than having to log in to comment? Let me know! Sorry for all the hoops but the spam has been terrible lately!