All Wrapped Up

I've often maintained that I might be slow, but I'm not dumb.  I say that when it's taken me awhile to catch on to something.  I know, however, that I simply have my own speed and that I'm also, under the right circumstances, very clever.

Let me illustrate my clever:  Recycling is a good thing.  I reflect on it at Christmas when I think of all that package wrapping:  first buying the paper; then wrapping the gifts, then they're unwrapped and there is a mountain of paper to deal with.  What is the best thing to do with that mountain?   In the old days all the paper went into the trash (worst case).  If Grandpa had a fireplace, we would burn the wrappings paper (not quite so bad--at least the room was warmed a bit).  Then the city offered recycling service for paper (all non-foil paper could go out with the newspapers--pretty good deal).  Or you could put the gift in a box that could be reused (we've been circulating some boxes until the corners as worn--a great idea).  But what if you wrapped the gift in some festive and practical (Practical Pat is my other self).

While at my favorite store a couple of weeks ago, the clever/practical part of me lept out and grabbed a good idea--a gift wrap that could be used in the kitchen everyday.  Now that's the best thing yet in my book.  The price was fine as well at 79 cents each.  Ten ended up in my basket as I headed to checkout.

The gifts I planned to wrap were aprons I was creating (another blog--watch for it).  The wrap and the gift were a perfect combination.  I'm pretty tickled with myself on this one and putting it all together is one of the Things I get to do today.  Here's how it worked.

Here's the gift wrapped in dishtowel with red yarn tie.

The wrapping is a creamy dishtowel with red strips on the edges.  I washed them first and then ironed them with a fabric finish to make them smooth and "crisp."  With just a little planning, you can maximize the presence of the red stripes on the front.

Making a bow that will not crush

On my recent "Knitting on the Road" adventure, I found in the making of pompoms that if I wrapped about ten times and tied it off, a rather lovely yarn bow was the result.  Some of you may remember that about fifty years ago there was a fad of fat yarn used for package ties.

Tying once, then twice.

Completed package

 Here's the finished bit of cleverness.  This gift will go into a box to be mailed and will find its way to another state, another city and under a distant tree.  The wrapping and the bow will be just fine.