Gift Wrap Green E-Book

Camille Wilkinson

• Herausgeber: Batsford
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 113

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020

Beschreibung

Tips and techniques for spectacular and sustainable gift wrapping From simple bows and neat corners to Japanese fabric wrapping, this book shows how to wow friends and family with beautifully wrapped gifts while minimising waste. You will learn how to master the art of wrapping through easy step-by-step instructions of key techniques. There are ideas for creating both simple and intricate designs, all made using materials that are recyclable, reusable and sustainable. Techniques include wrapping with pleats and pockets, using paper bags and how to wrap unusual shaped gifts, such as bottles. A section on Furoshiki, fabric wrapping, shows how to create gift wraps from tea towels and beautiful pieces of fabric. There's also guidance on ribbons, bows, string, wool and using plants and flowers to create the perfect gift. Bursting with ideas, this innovative book offers a mindful creative outlet that will both delight friends and family and help save the planet by reducing waste.

Leseprobe

CONTENTS

Introduction

PART ONEFirst Things First

PART TWOPaper Wrapping Techniques

PART THREEFabric Wrapping Techniques

PART FOURRepurposing Everyday Objects

PART FIVEToppings, Trimmings and Embellishments

Templates

Suppliers

Acknowledgements

Index

Introduction

The reason gifts have such sentimental value is in part explained by how they come into our lives, as tokens of affection, typically at times of celebration. Most often, this added value is derived from personal or emotional association, rather than the gift’s actual material worth, and gift wrap intensifies this symbolism significantly. Big or small, we love the anticipation of that moment of surprise this alluring paper striptease offers. Whatever the style, research shows that gift wrapping has intrinsic meaning and appeal, and elevates even the humblest gift in the eyes of the recipient.

Over the years, wrapping paper has evolved rapidly, helped to a significant degree by the invention of adhesive tape. Today this multi-billion-dollar industry generates millions of lines of mass-produced product, designed to appeal to a wide range of tastes and for every conceivable occasion and purse. Distressingly, however, the majority of it ends up in landfill, as most gift wrap paper is not, despite common belief, recyclable, being often laminated with plastic, foil or other non-paper materials. Much of it is also contaminated by sticky plastic tape that can disrupt the recycling process.

Consequently, the giant tide of consumerism is on the turn. This unsustainable consumption puts an alarming strain on resources and a backlash against conventional gift wrapping is beginning to take hold. As more and more discerning people seek out alternatives, this book focuses on more environmentally friendly papers, and on recycling and reusing supplies. Where regular gift wrap is used, it is made from recycled materials, and ones that can themselves be reused or recycled.

Many perceive the art of creative gift wrapping as the domain of the professional or the arty type. However, with just a little know-how and ingenuity – gained through step-by-step guides for basic principles, and some innovative and clever wrapping techniques – everyone who wants to upgrade their game in the gift-giving stakes can develop their skills significantly.

Gift Wrap Green contains a beautiful array of ideas and techniques to whet your appetite. Using readily available items and the paper of your choice, the book will enable you to achieve remarkable results easily. It offers endless scope for the creatively gifted and challenged alike to experiment and unleash their inner demon gift-wrapper. It sparks the imagination and allows you to use a variety of techniques to advance your wrapping.

So whether you make it elegantly beautiful in its simplicity, or fantastically fabulous and fun, or, indeed, anywhere in between – make it with a promise to cut down on wasteful gift wrapping.

PART ONE

FIRST THINGS FIRST

Preparation is key to gift wrapping. Find a flat, hard surface to work on – it needs to be well-lit and big enough to accommodate all your supplies. Working on the floor or a bed makes wrapping more difficult to control, and without a flat surface to smooth up against, you will struggle to achieve a tight, crisp fit. Avoid cramped or cluttered conditions at all costs: if you can’t unroll your paper comfortably, the chances are that accurate measuring will be impossible, risking crumpled paper, bulky folds and an untidy-looking gift.

Make sure your work surface is clean – there’s nothing worse than spending time wrapping a gift perfectly, only to turn it over and discover a grease stain spoiling all your efforts.

If you are just wrapping one gift, have all the elements you think you may need to hand. You may not use it all, but if the notion takes you in a slightly different direction, you’ll have what you want. Some of my best wraps have evolved into something quite removed from the original intent just by seeing new potential when everything is grouped together.

If you are wrapping multiple gifts, start only with the gifts, paper, scissors, tape or glue, and a pencil to hand. I like to make an event of wrapping multiple gifts. It’s an ideal time to put on some music and lose yourself in the moment.

Before wrapping any gift, check and remove all price tags, then check again! If you cannot remove a tag, blank out the price neatly with a black pen.

Tools and Adhesives

Gift wrapping requires only a few essential tools, which I’ve highlighted below with asterisks. The rest of the things on the list, if you don’t already have them in your arsenal, are readily available from any art or craft outlet, as and when you need them.

1CUTTING MAT A non-slip, self-healing surface for cutting paper, card and other materials, with guidelines marked for cutting accuracy.

2PAPER TRIMMER A tool designed to cut several sheets of paper or a single piece of card quickly and cleanly, achieving a perfect straight edge with one smooth movement. It can also be used to create paper ribbon as well as other trimmings. A basic version is shown here and this should be used on a cutting mat. For more frequent use, consider investing in a good quality, heavy-duty paper cutter.

3WOODEN RULER Only suitable for accurate measuring and drawing a straight line.

4*STAINLESS STEEL RULER Unlike a wooden ruler, this provides a sound guide for scoring and cutting with a blade. An extra-long version gives a solid straight edge for tearing wrapping paper on a roll.

5TRANSPARENT LINE GAUGE RULER Most often seen in the graphic art or printing industries, the extra line guides can be used for measuring type and line spacing.

6ROUND HOLLOW PUNCH Available in a variety of sizes for punching a single hole, essential for making gift tags from scratch, and if you plan to make vast numbers, choose a product that punches through several layers of card at once.

7*RETRACTABLE CRAFT KNIFE For cutting paper and card with confidence and precision; its flexible tip is especially good for smaller projects.

8GIFT WRAP CUTTER One example of many products designed to easily glide through paper to give a smooth cut, especially useful for those who may find cutting difficult.

9*PENCIL Choose a precision pencil for unprecedented control.

10PENS Choose marker pens and precision roller balls in a variety of widths and colours for a smooth, skip-free illustrating and lettering experience.

11CRAFT WIRE For most gift-wrapping decorations, a medium-thin wire (0.64mm/22 gauge) is best.

12PINKING SHEARS These have serrated blades for making zigzag cuts to stop fabric edges from fraying and as well as these, you’ll need a good pair of *FABRIC SCISSORS, essential for getting a good finish when working with ribbon. Never use these to cut paper or materials that can dull their ultra-sharp blades.

13*PAPER SCISSORS The thicker the paper, the larger the scissors should be, and the sharper the better. Choose a comfortable pair with long straight blades that glide easily through the entire length of the cut.

14SMALL EMBROIDERY SCISSORS Vital for any intricate cutting jobs.

15ROTARY CUTTER Boasting ergonomic handles and titanium-enhanced blades, a rotary cutter with a 45mm (1¾in) blade is ideal for cutting fabric, felt, vinyl or paper, and is the perfect size for a variety of tasks including cutting multiple layers and straight lines.

16CIRCLE CRAFT PUNCH For the effortless creation of precise circles time after time.

17STAMP AND INK PADS With hundreds of different stamp designs to choose from and eco-friendly, vegetable-based inks available in a variety of colours, these are useful for decorating papers and labels.

18*GLUE STICK Available in eco-friendly forms, made of entirely natural ingredients, meaning your wrapping can be safely recycled. I find these small tubes of semisolid, water-based adhesive to be the most efficient, convenient and easy-to-use method to bond eco-friendly wrapping papers together. You only need to apply glue to one of the surfaces, but it helps to reinforce the edges with an extra swipe of glue before you make your bond to ensure good adhesion, though it will touch-hold Kraft paper in seconds. Any excess smears on unwanted areas can be gently wiped away with a barely damp cloth. Look for a quality brand with a low-water formula to avoid stretching or wrinkling the paper. A little goes a long, long way and the tubes can be recycled.

19PVA GLUE A non-toxic glue with a smooth consistency, this adhesive can be used to stick paper, card, cloth, wood and other porous materials. Washable and clear-drying, it can also be used as a glazing medium.

20GUMMED PAPER TAPE Wet the shiny side with water to make it sticky, ready for use.

21KRAFT PAPER TAPE With a silicone-free backing, this biodegradable tape is 100 per cent recyclable.

22FRAMER’S MASKING TAPE Not recyclable.

23CLEAR ADHESIVE TAPE Polypropylene-based, pressure-sensitive tape often referred to as ‘sticky tape’, which, if left attached to wrapping paper, makes it unpulpable. Leading manufacturers have developed environmentally friendly, plant-based versions of this gift-wrapping mainstay, which should be sought out if you choose not to use an alternative.

24DOUBLE-SIDED TAPE This is often considered the professional’s choice for gift wrapping as it results in an invisible finish. However, it has an almost instant bond, making it hard to reposition, and its protective backing can be time-consuming to peel off. Seek out the more environmentally friendly versions being developed by leading manufacturers.

Choosing Paper

As long as the paper is durable enough for your needs and your gift is neatly encased, just about anything goes as far as paper is concerned! This selection offers food for thought, but if in doubt, the ubiquitous 80gsm Kraft paper has endured in popularity for good reason.

BEING ECO-FRIENDLY

We all have an obligation to our planet to be conscious consumers. The holiday season always brings this into stark focus when, despite all we know, the shops are full of gift-wrapping paraphernalia that is neither sustainably made nor recyclable, meaning that, yet again, most of what is bought will end up in landfill.

Gift wrapping is part of our gift-giving culture but it needs to evolve for a greener future. There are so many cheap, and often free, found or repurposed materials all around us that with a little bit of lateral thinking could be used to start a gift-wrapping revolution. Once you start looking, you will begin to see interesting options for gift wrap everywhere.

The selection of papers shown here represents eco-friendly options that can safely be used to gift wrap – but you can go further. It is my dearest wish that the ideas in this book will enable you to have the confidence to use what is already available to you when gift wrapping, rather than going out to buy more.

I am not entirely against regular gift wrap – there is a vast array of stunning papers available in every conceivable colour, in eye-catching prints and designs, and I do understand how those shiny, tempting rolls of loveliness can draw you in. Sometimes they are simply the best option for your requirements. If you want to purchase traditional wrapping paper, keep a look out for products made from recycled materials that can themselves be reused or recycled, and always do the scrunch test (see here). However, I encourage you to discover a new freedom with your gift-wrap choices, to deconstruct the usual notions of what a wrapped gift is supposed to look like. So, in addition to giving consideration to your purchased paper materials, start collecting instead of buying more.

  1 Parcel paper (see here)

  2 Plain Kraft paper (see here)

  3 Coloured Kraft paper (see here)

  4 Hand-printed wrapping paper (see here)

  5 Various book pages

  6 Cardboard and packaging

  7 Handmade papers

  8 Plain packing/blank newsprint paper

  9 Greaseproof paper

10 Tissue paper

11 Newspaper

12 Used envelopes

13 Napkins

14 Magazines and leaflets

15 Sugar paper

16 Doilies

17 Printed card stock

18 Outdated maps

THE SCRUNCH TEST

Not all types of wrapping paper can be recycled. The easiest way to determine this is to do what is known as the scrunch test. Simply scrunch the wrapping paper in your hand: if it remains scrunched, it’s recyclable; if it springs back, it’s more than likely to be covered with a plastic film, which can’t be recycled.

Measuring Paper

MEASURE TWICE, CUT ONCE

There’s nothing more frustrating than wrapping paper around a gift only to find you’re a couple of centimetres short. Described below is the basic measuring principle to ensure your paper is the correct size to fit your gift, followed by a couple of practical shortcuts to take the work out of this step.

BASIC MEASURING PRINCIPLE

Determining the length and width measurements of your paper depends entirely on this fundamental principle and your gift as you look at it, as this will determine where the closure ends will sit. Usually this is obvious as it is the part of the gift with the smallest area.

MEASURING SHORTCUTS