So, I have to admit to running away from my computer lately. A combination of neck trouble and not wanting work to be able to reach me has caused me to leave my laptop on the floor gathering dust a good amount of the time.
This is not to say that I havn't been crafting. Au contraire. I think because of my reduced hours at work (and the lack of computer time) I have really been getting back into crafting - especially sewing and knitting. I also got this lovely book as a Christmas gift and taught myself to crochet over the holidays, something I have always wanted to do.
Crochet amazes me. Perhaps it was because of my knitting experience, but I was amazed at how quick it was to learn. Also, it was incredible how quickly I could put together a finished project! I made a few pairs of slippers for friends and family over the holidays, embellishing them with flowers. I found an old Threadbanger video on how to make the flowers, and it was so fast and they turned out so cute!
I was so excited to give them to my boyfriend's mom, I even forgot to take pictures...
Something else I was really getting into over the holidays is furoshiki, or the japanese art of wrapping things with folded fabric. I love the concept, because I hate throwing out tons of wrapping after the holidays. What I loved about doing it was how fast it went. After practicing a couple of times, I could wrap a gift in only a few seconds.
And you can do it cheaply as well! I bought polyester lining at Dressew for $2/metre, which is more than enough for two average sized gifts, and the shine of it looked so nice under the tree! I didn't even finish the edges - just ripped off any loose threads. You don't need to add bows or ribbon, as these features are generally built into the way the gift is wrapped. The only thing to worry about are gift tags, but I'll go into that in a later post. My favourite wrapping style quickly became this orchid wrap I found on youtube, as I am slightly obsessed with orchids.
Jenn Playford has a lovely book on the subject called Wrapagami. It goes over everything from how to make the fabric squares to various inventive and adorable ways to use them for gifts! She even has her own youtube site with many how-to videos for the wrapping techniques. I love it!
And, to top it all off, since I'm the only one who knows how to do this wrapping now (even though I offered to teach), everyone gave me back the fabric to use again and again. Take that, disposable paper wrapping!
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