Fabric Gift Wrapping Bags

As soon as I receive the amazing photos from my amazing Christmas vacay, they shall be posted. In the meantime, I learned a few things. Thing number one: Fabric Gift Bags.

I spent Christmas with a friend's family. While this friend is rather new, she is also rather fabulous. And crafty. The best sort of friend really, no? So this fabulous and crafty friend shared a secret with me, and now I am sharing it with you. The fabric stores have all their Christmas fabric on sale right now. Now. Right this minute... and guess what? You need some. Well, you don't need Christmas fabric necessarily, but if that is your thing, then get on it! Because the new thing is fabric gift bags instead of paper.

A few years ago Heather went to an after Christmas sale and bought up the remnants she liked best for $2 /meter. She zipped off a bunch of simple bags of various sizes and put them away for the next year's gift wrapping. Brilliant! I personally am not a fan of red and green, I rarely do "normal" for Christmas. It certainly doesn't have to be just holiday themed patterns though. In fact, I am adopting an entire spectrum of these bags for birthdays and such as well... and this neutral bag with the tree on the front is another lovely idea. I think stamped or silk screened pine cones would be gorgeous. I haven't taken on silk screening before, but I have a friend who does it and would probably be willing to do a trade. Regardless... this is the most easy peasy sewing project imaginable!

In the end, the bags cost less than paper if you use them over and over and I can't tell you how amazing it was that there was no crazy obscene mess of torn paper as an aftermath this Christmas morning. When I asked her if her kids missed the ripping and tearing into gifts, she replied that there were still gifts from outside the family (or from grandparents) that came wrapped in paper for that. And that when the gifts are torn into, often it becomes more about ripping open gift after gift without having much appreciation for what is inside. I tend to agree with that... having seen the youngest in more than one paper ripping frenzy. This Christmas was very calm and lovely, and the cleanup was not only far more eco... but super easy. All the bags fit into one big one to be stored with the decorations. Or with your wrapping whatnots, whichever you prefer. I am definitely adopting this gem!