Fabric Wrapping: I'm Not Sold

As I mentioned last week, one of the ways people are wrapping greener these days is by using fabric in place of paper; unlike things made of trees, fabric doesn't rip easily and thus, is often reusable. It's a good idea. Fabric allows us to incorporate more texture into gift wrapping. I mean, if I could, I would wrap everything in velvet, lace and cashmere. And yes, cloth is sustainable. You reuse it as a headband or a nice kitchen towel.

Somehow though, I'm not a fan of these:


I seem to keep finding these *cough* REALLY FREAKIN UGLY *cough* gift wrap sacks all over the web. And I'm not gonna lie, internetz, these are not cute. Plus, I think there's something to putting just a little effort into wrapping a gift. So it doesn't look like you totally forgot the birthday of the recipient and had to quickly throw something into the tea cozy you found in your mother-in-law's cabinet. The one time I would advocate for wrap sacks is if you're wrapping a gift for a little kid who isn't going give a crap about what's on the outside. Plus, it's less stray paper for that parent to clean up.

Still, I KNOW there is a better way to wrap with fabric. I discovered Furochic gift wrap when I was browsing elephant prints for a theme wrap-up, and I came across this:
Not perfect, but a vast improvement on astronaut monkeys, wouldn't you say? Jennifer Playford founded the whole Furochic line, and she even has a book on the art of fabric wrapping called Wrapagami. I'm still not obsessed with the gift on the cover of this book--I think I'm just too attracted to the sartorial folds of paper-wrapped presents. But I'm getting used to the idea. I mean, how awesome would it look to wrap a gift origami-style and then stick a big, fresh flower on top? SO GREEN!

I'm not completely sold on this whole thing, but perhaps getting there.