Upcycle your magazines

Rosie, who is the owner of the Etsy store “RosieGoa“, and the mother of the little boy pictured below, tells us how they make gift wrapping special in their house. Before we look at that, however, let’s appreciate Rosie’s cloth creations: well-crafted and Indian-inspired, her pieces will make your baby look bohemian-chic. I just love the colors and the details in the tunic tops and drawstring pants.

This scary pirate spent the morning before his friend Zaal’s birthday party collaging a personalised gift wrap. A glue stick and a pair of scissors is a huge part of the gift-giving ritual at our house. We grab all those gorgeous deco magazines and snip, snip, snip. The images are glossy, colourful and feel great. The gorgeous items may not make it into our house in physical form, but we feel like we’re having it all.

We hoard any kind of box (cereal, chocolate”¦.), thick shopping bags, padded postage envelopes, ribbons, beads, flyers, labels”¦. the list is endless”¦. that can be upcycled and used for gift boxes and bags. It can be as simple or as complicated as you like, and take time as little or as long as you have. Go simple with a few pages of great images stuck together, then the friends name spelt out in letters of different size, colour and font (thank you Sex Pistols). Or go wild with macaroni, lentils, glitter, beads, sequined and embroidered embellishments.

Friends on the receiving end have sometimes loved their box, wrapping, or bag, more than the gift itself. We love the time spent together and the conversations inspired by what we see, and how that looks when cut-up and made into something new. It gives great joy to pass on so much cut and paste love. I will never, ever, buy gift wrap again, unless of course it’s to turn into something else.