DIY Life

Not so long ago, Debra showed us a ton of different ways to wrap handmade soap. You don't need to stop with hand-made variety, though.

We know, normally you're the type to be making your own oatmeal-lanolin-sweetgrass wholesome-granola soap, but sometimes you just don't have some right when you need it. Mind you, you did find some very nice soap while you were out shopping the other day. You could aways give that. But store-bought soap?

If you just can't face the shame, we have a fix for you! Take your (store-bought) soap, get yourself a nice quality wrapping paper, a ruler, and a craft knife or scissors. Use Debra's post to choose a style of wrap, and then, using the beautifully illustrated and detailed instructions found here at Creature Comforts, create your own highly professional, boutique-style packaging. The recipient will barely register that it isn't hand-crafted soap.

Okay, so it's sort of cheating. But when the blogger even provides free, downloadable labels for that final touch of perfection, who can resist?

I've written about furoshiki here several times in the last few months. How can you not love them? They bring traditional Japanese style into the 21st century with an eco-friendly bonus: you can avoid using throwaways like paper gift wrap or plastic carrying bags by wrapping something beautifully in a versatile, re-usable cloth. Recently, I came across a furoshiki bag style I've never seen before. I think it's so nifty that I have to share it!

Watch the video above to see what I'm talking about. It involves two cloths that have been stacked as two layers, then sewn together with stitches in the shape of a plus sign. Each row of stitches is halfway across one side, so the lines of stitches intersect at the center of the cloths and divide the stack into quadrants. Each quadrant is a small pocket, formed by the two layers of cloth, with open outer edges and a free corner point.

This furoshiki style is simple to tie: you can see it in the video, but I'll also describe it after the break. However, to get it to look just like the video's results, you need a cloth that has been dyed in a specific way, and if you're going to create your own cloth that isn't dyed that way or stitch together two existing furoshiki, scarves, or bandannas, there are some points to consider. Please continue reading if you'd like more details and ideas.

I just packaged up some gifts to send my in-laws and couldn't find a shoe box. We usually keep shoe boxes handy for packages, but without one I tore apart the house looking for a suitable alternative. Finally I decided to use a cereal box. Our little gifts slid inside perfectly, I wrapped it up and sent it off. Using the cereal box made me think of all the other things in the recycling bin or garbage that could be re-purposed as wrapping material.

I found these instructions for making a gift box out of a cereal box. Along with the gift and box, you'll need a cutting mat, craft knife, straight edge, large spoon, pencil and glue. You can add a bow or gift tag, but there is no need for wrapping paper. Most cereal boxes are bright and colorful, so leave this funky resourceful look and you'll have a great wrapping solution. You could use a cracker box or any other food box in place of the cereal box. Get creative, pull from your recycling bin and have fun with it.

If you're interested in more thrifty and inventive wrapping ideas, check out some of Anna's suggestions.

Some people love giving Secret Santa gifts, mainly the overly friendly HR lady who is in a constant state of cheer. For the rest of us, it can be a royal pain. The sentiment is good: getting to know each other and celebrating the holidays with your workmates. The idea is that you pull somebody's name and you'll be their "Secret Santa", giving them a special gift. The problem is that you might not know much about the person who's name you drew and you might not have a clue where to start.

First, consider the guidelines that have been set out (probably by the same cheerful HR lady). You'll want to make sure that you stick within the guidelines for price and type of gift. Some offices love crude gag gifts while others have strict rules against it. Make sure you know what you're working with before you set out to find that perfect present. Once you know what you're working with, it's time research your giftee. Wired.com has some great suggestions for choosing the perfect gift, starting with getting to know them. They suggest a number of questions you can ask about this person to give you a pretty clear indication of what sort of thing they would like. Once you've decided on what you want to give, they have some ideas for where to get it. Remember that presentation matters and the gift giver is supposed to be a surprise, so don't wrap it in that old gift bag that's been sitting on your desk for a month!

Don't dread this part of your Christmas party. You're going to participate anyway, so have a little fun with it.

[via: Lifehacker]

Not all Christmas gifts fit easily into a box or a bag and, of course, children's toys never seem to be simple. Wrapping a toy guitar, dollhouse or tricycle can be a challenge even for a professional. For those odd-sized gifts, you need a little creative thinking.

Parenting magazine helps us avoid a bum wrap with these simple steps:

Toy guitar

• Cut a piece of wrapping paper big enough to lay the guitar across diagonally from bottom-right to top-left corner, then fold the bottom corner over the guitar's body to make a triangular pocket.
• Pull the right corner of the wrapping paper over the top of the guitar, then tuck it underneath.
• Pull the left corner across and tape liberally.
• Fold the last corner over the top of the guitar and tape it in place.
  

Dollhouse

• Put it in a jumbo white trash bag that you've decorated, or in a laundry bag or bedsheet that you've covered with stickers and bows.
  
• Add a giant poster-board gift tag to complete the supersize look.
  

Tricycle

• Don't wrap it; hide it in the garage or a closet. Create a trail of wrapped clues ("Where's the first place you go in the morning?" and he's off to the bathroom). By the time he's opened each clue, he'll be so psyched for his actual gift that he won't care there's no more paper to tear off.

Or, of course, you can always ask Santa to supply the big gifts ... he's been know to put presents under the tree with nothing but a bow.

If you're looking for a unique way to wrap a small gift, or would like to make a few last-minute ornaments or package decorations, why not try fabric origami? Armed with fabric stiffener and a few tools, you can get leftover fabric to behave just like paper... with the exception of the fact that you can just iron out any mistakes.

While the Fabric Origami web site discusses preparing the fabric, there isn't much information about what to do with the stiffened fabric: they want to sell you the patterns. (That's not going to help if you want to do this in the next few days!) Here are a few sites with free instructions for origami boxes, which you can make with fabric or paper:

• A basic origami box pattern.
• The Origami Resource Center's page of box patterns and tutorials: this site has dozens of links. Not all of the links are in English, but most have diagrams that are clear enough that it doesn't matter. This is the place to go if you'd like to make boxes in shapes like octagons or pyramids.
• Origami box video at Expert Village (3:18): Similar to the video above, but the demonstrator talks you through the project.
• Kristina Werner's origami box video (5:54) is probably the best of the three, showing you how to make a larger box with scrapbooking papers.

Wrapping paper is so often just thrown away; that's a waste of money and bad for the environment. This year, why not try to make the packaging part of your gifts? These origami box designs are simple to make, and recipients can enjoy them all year long. Best of all, they don't take much longer to make than it would take to wrap a present in the first place.