Furoshiki are traditional Japanese wrapping cloths used to wrap all sorts of objects from a bento box lunch to a special gift. Furoshiki gift wraps are environmentally friendly because they are reusable, thus eliminating paper waste. The wraps themselves can also be repurposed—refolded and knotted to form a carrying pouch, used as a scarf, or displayed as a home décor piece.

Traditional furoshiki are square—many sizes, but always square. I’ve taken lots of liberties with this and use all sorts of rectangles for my recyclable holiday gift wraps. I’ve used hand and kitchen towels, scarves (several from the thrift shop), and fabric remnants as wraps. I also use dollar store holiday table covers, cut to whatever size I need.

Let’s use a furoshiki to wrap a gift:

1. Lay furoshiki face down. Position the package diagonally on the cloth.
2. Bring opposite ends to the center.
3. Tie the ends.
4. Bring remaining ends to the center, and tie.

This plaid furoshiki was a dollar store table cover that I cut to size.

In this blog post I show you how you can create your own furoshiki holiday gift wrap.

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