Gift-Wrapping This Season Trends Jazzy But Sustainable

The trend in gift wrapping this holiday season is toward jazzy yet sustainable options.

Consider beautifully folded fabrics or understated, brown or green masking paper topped with colorful washi tape or sprigs of green instead of easily crushed store-bought bows.

“There’s a lot of fun stuff going on in gift wrap these days,” says Amy Panos, home editor at Better Homes and Gardens.

“People still like paper, of course, but there’s a lot of interest in wrapping gifts in fabric,” she says. There’s the Japanese technique of furoshiki, in which the wrapping cloth becomes part of the gift. ``Or you can use a scarf or pretty tea towel, then fold it like origami,” Panos says.

Tenugui cloth, similar to furoshiki but rectangular instead of square, can also be used as an alternative to traditional gift wrapping.

As with origami, there are books showing how to wrap gifts in cloth, a gift-wrapping solution in Japan for centuries. Furoshiki comes in various sizes, fabrics, and patterns.