Frith (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
frith_in_thorns) wrote2020-12-13 10:20 pm
frith_in_thorns) wrote2020-12-13 10:20 pm
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[december meme] Wrapping presents
December meme! I'm writing posts this month on topics requested by friends. If you have an idea for something you'd like to hear me talk about, request it here!
sholio asked me to talk about wrapping presents with no tape. So here we go!
I started doing this a couple of years ago on the general hope of using less plastic. First I just used brown paper with normal tape, then upgraded to washi tape, and then finally realised I didn't need to use tape at all. Not when I have a load of ribbons! Seriously, I have so many ribbons. Some of them are off clothing or gift boxes or things like that, and also I bought at least one big bag of end-of-roll assorted ribbon bits from my local fabric shop for almost nothing — they sell these regularly.
So, you get your present and the brown paper. Wrap it and fold both ends like you're going to tape it. (If I'm doing these for people I want to impress I make sure to fold the overlap so that it lies right along an edge or along the very centre for added neatness.)
Then, choose a nice ribbon and centre it over the upper side of the present. Turn the present over and pull the ribbon ends around each other at 90 degrees — you can see on the picture below. Pull tight.
Pull the ends tight, turn your present back over, and tie it. These have tight knots because they're going in the post, otherwise I might use a bow that's easy to undo.
Obviously, you don't *have* to tie the ribbon around all four sides like this! That's just the most secure way. (Also apologies if you felt me explaining how to tie a parcel was patronising, I have just found that I know surprisingly few people who were taught to tie one! I learned at Brownies, I think.) You could also use wool, string, even elastic bands if you wanted. Anyway, this is how I wrap presents! And another good thing about using brown paper is that you can write directly onto the present instead of needing to use tags. Sometimes I draw little pictures too — holly leaves or snowflakes or somesuch.
I hope this was entertaining and useful!
sholio asked me to talk about wrapping presents with no tape. So here we go!I started doing this a couple of years ago on the general hope of using less plastic. First I just used brown paper with normal tape, then upgraded to washi tape, and then finally realised I didn't need to use tape at all. Not when I have a load of ribbons! Seriously, I have so many ribbons. Some of them are off clothing or gift boxes or things like that, and also I bought at least one big bag of end-of-roll assorted ribbon bits from my local fabric shop for almost nothing — they sell these regularly.
So, you get your present and the brown paper. Wrap it and fold both ends like you're going to tape it. (If I'm doing these for people I want to impress I make sure to fold the overlap so that it lies right along an edge or along the very centre for added neatness.)
Then, choose a nice ribbon and centre it over the upper side of the present. Turn the present over and pull the ribbon ends around each other at 90 degrees — you can see on the picture below. Pull tight.
Pull the ends tight, turn your present back over, and tie it. These have tight knots because they're going in the post, otherwise I might use a bow that's easy to undo.
Obviously, you don't *have* to tie the ribbon around all four sides like this! That's just the most secure way. (Also apologies if you felt me explaining how to tie a parcel was patronising, I have just found that I know surprisingly few people who were taught to tie one! I learned at Brownies, I think.) You could also use wool, string, even elastic bands if you wanted. Anyway, this is how I wrap presents! And another good thing about using brown paper is that you can write directly onto the present instead of needing to use tags. Sometimes I draw little pictures too — holly leaves or snowflakes or somesuch.
I hope this was entertaining and useful!
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I'm not quite ready to move over to brown paper yet, but have been trying to get wrapping paper that can be recycled, instead of the kind that can't be. And I'm going to move over to Sellotape's non-plastic tape for some things too.
Anyway, thank you. So simple, but I'd never have thought of it myself!
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If you wanted to do this for your mum, you could always use nice-looking wool or twine that she could cut with scissors? Probably easier than pulling off tape! Or you could use a ribbon and thread the ends through a chunky wooden bead -- that would hold it in place but be easy to pull off :) (Of course you don't need to do this, just brainstorming ideas in case you'd like them!)
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