Scrunchies can be a fun, easy, and appreciated gift. These are a great opportunity to use fabric scraps and you don’t have to worry about the packaging and transportation of a new, store-bought item. Once you get the hang of making these, you’ll be able to make bunches at once. Give one as a gift, tie one to the outside of another present, or make a variety of different scrunchies. Enjoy!
Theses are one of my favorite sewing projects! Very simple and quick to make, these are great for replacing plastic storage baggies. You can sew them in a variety of sizes and upcycle materials to make them. But they are also super great for using as fabric gift bags. Just tie a bow around the top or the outside, and you’ve got an easy, eco-friendly gift wrap!
I am ALL about fabric gift wrap! And having just been through the holiday gift opening, I’m going to highlight some of my favorite things about using fabric, instead of paper:
–It’s SO easy to wrap with fabric bags!
–No need to shop for wrapping paper every year.
–No need to store bulky, awkward wrapping paper rolls and tape.
–SO much better for the environment! (especially when using upcycled cloth)
–WAY less mess! (Can’t emphasize this enough.)
–SO easy and compact to store
–Looks quaint, creative, and homey
For me, using fabric gift wrap has been a gradual process, and I think that’s important to remember. It’s awesome if you can make/purchase a whole stash of fabric gift wrap/bags all at once and dive in, but that wasn’t the case for me. It started with small fabric gift bags people had used to gift me presents. Then, I sewed a few of them one year. And a few the next. This year, I finally had the time to round out our stash quite a bit, which is probably why I’m on a fabric gift wrap mission right now. It was so amazing to not deal with paper or tissue paper. Not only for the mess factor, but for my environmentalist-self as well. My heart sinks whenever I see piles of wrapping paper.
I also think this would be an awesome fundraiser for a school. What a fun project to teach kids basic sewing (these bags can be very simple), to teach them and their families about reducing and reusing, and to help them get started on that journey.
I highly recommend giving fabric wrap a try, even if it’s only a little bit at a time. Keep your eyes out for fabric bags throughout the year, and collect them with your gift wrapping supplies. If you do sew, even if you’re a beginner, sewing fabric gift bags is EASY. As with any project, you can make things more complicated if you’d like, but the basic idea is an easy one. Collect fabric bits, old sheets, even old tee-shirts to use for sewing a simple bag. My favorite fabric gift bag to make is a drawstring bag, but I don’t always find the time to make these. Making fold-over bags for gift wrap is super easy, but sometimes I just sew a simple bag shape and tie a ribbon around the top. Some people will even just use a piece fabric cloth to wrap with and use fancy folding methods. These are beautiful to see, but the process is something I don’t have the patience to master right now.
Whichever method you use, I highly, highly recommend the switch!
**St. Nick comes to pick up some of our fabric bags at the beginning of December to take to Santa for that year’s gifts.**
ALL our holiday wrap in one small, little stack!
Other alternatives to wrapping paper:
Magazine Gift Wrap
Food Box Gift Bags
Upcycled Paper Stockings
It is definitely a time for care packages. There are so many circumstances right now that call for a little (or a lot of) extra love, whether it’s sickness or loneliness or a family effected financially. Even just a general cheer boost is so very needed right now.
When I hear about someone is struggling, whether it’s during Covid or otherwise, I always want to reach out and do something. I often struggle though with where to begin. What to say. What to send. Especially when the circumstances are very tough, it’s hard to know just what to do.
I’ve been the very grateful recipient of some amazing care packages and gestures during times I really needed it, and this has been a big help in me getting over the hurdle of overthinking things and just reaching out with what feels right at the time.
The occasions when a care package is a good idea are endless, but here’s a small list based on when I’ve received or sent one:
–Expecting a new baby
–After a miscarriage
–After an operation or surgery or treatment
–A birthday
–After a divorce or break-up
–For the parents or siblings after a new baby’s arrival
–For a big celebration- new job, new house, new pet, retirement
–When someone is sick
–After losing a loved one
–For someone who will be alone on a holiday
–After a major life event, happy or sad
Obviously, the occasions are limitless. Every care package I’ve received over the years has put so much joy into my heart. And while something sent via an online store is fun too, there is definitely something extra special about the time and effort of a hand-packed package. So, here are some ideas for what to put inside:
—Homemade cookies (These usually travel well, unless there are terrible mail delays. I often make the cookies ahead of time and freeze them for a few days to give them a little extra chance. I think homemade cookies are good for pretty much any occasion. (A friend even sent a whole box of cookies to us after my mother-in-law passed away, and they were very much welcomed and appreciated.)
–Store-bought food goodies (After I gave birth to my first kiddo, my sister sent a whole package of baby/mini-sized store-bought snacks for me, and I still think back to how wonderful those tasted. New mamas are HUNGRY!)
—Homemade granola {If I’m sending homemade treats in a priority box where weight doesn’t matter, I love reusing/upcycling glass jars to package them. There are also eco-friendly, compostable sandwich bags available at stores for affordable prices.}
–Bath tea blend (I bought a bag of homemade bath tea after I gave birth to my first baby, and I loved how relaxing and calming it felt, even amidst the chaos. Bath blends could be great for anytime, but especially when someone needs extra love and self-care. There are some very simple blend ideas online.)
–Eye pillow (These are fairly easy to sew your own)
–“Hugs” (In a recent care package I sent out, I wanted so badly to be able to give hugs, so I cut out small hearts and wrote a “hug” message on each of them. I wrote a separate hug from each member of our family to each member of their family. So for their family of five I had five hearts from each one of our four family members, making 20 hearts total. ” A hug from Mary to Jon”. “A hug from Mary to Natalie” etc. I put them in a small envelope along with everything else.)
–Pajamas. (Something about a well-chosen set of soft pajamas just says comfort and self-care.)
–Ditto with slippers
–A hand-written card (Never underestimate the power of your words, even if those words are, “I don’t know what to say right now.”)
–Artwork (If you love painting or creating, or if you have kids who do, this is a great thing to include.)
–If kids are on the receiving end, it’s always fun to include something extra for them (while being conscious of things like the mess or effort it puts on the parents, the interests of the kids, and the environmental impact).
—Homemade play-dough. (It’s not just for kids. There’s something very relaxing about working with dough, and an adult is probably more likely to try this if it’s sent as a gift.)
–Coloring pages (As above, not just for kids)
Care packages are ultimately about the thought–the care you put into the package and the care you’re sending someone’s way. I try my best to stay away from items that will add more work for the recipient, but, of course, I’ve also got the environmental bug in my ear as well. Hopefully, the recipient will feel the love and thought that went into what’s been sent and know they’re on my heart. What can be better than a surprise package in the mailbox that reminds us that someone cares
I LOVE, love getting fortunes from fortune cookies! And even though I’ve grown to dislike the restaurant ones, and I’m not always in the mood to make the homemade ones, I still crave the random messages of wisdom or hope or complete randomness to reflect on.
Enter….Paper and Fabric Fortune Cookies! I love this idea, especially because it’s a GREAT opportunity to reuse old magazines, catalogs, wrapping paper, damaged books, etc. as well as fabric scraps. Wouldn’t it be fun to have a jar of these around either at a celebration or perhaps year-round for your family or guests to reach in for some fortune cookie wisdom every now and then?
The first time I made these, I sort of made it up as I went, and it was a bit of a struggle. In the video above, I’ve shown a few different tips and ideas, which I hope can help.
I think a bag or box or container of these would be such a fun, simple (possibly upcycled?) gift. If your gift recipient is going through a tough time, you could hand select quotes or messages to offer them hope or a chuckle. If it’s a special anniversary party, you could collect messages about love or marriage. If you’ve collected cute, little sayings your kid has said over the years, you could put those on the messages at a birthday party. You could stick a fortune in with your child’s lunch or tuck one into a birthday card. The creative possibilities are endless.
If you’re not up for a crafty project, but still like the idea of fortunes, why not just put out a jar of fortunes with no cookies? Here are some fortune cookie quotations (and here and here) I put together for my shop, if you’re interested!
