Giving Good Gift

This season, I seem to be giving a lot of cookbook-y, kitchen-y kinds of things. A couple of weekends ago, I hosted our neighborhood playgroup's cookie exchange and because I am the Hostess with the Mostess (at least in my mind) I had a couple of door prizes in hand to share with our guests at the end of the cookie swapping madness - a mini-wine basket and this great holiday cookbook for kids.
In addition to the cookie crunching fun, I had another holiday party to attend the next day - this one was the first annual White Elephant kitchen gadget exchange hosted by the Austin Food Blogger Alliance (kudos to Rebecca of The Rebeccamendations and LocalizeAustin for organizing such a fun afternoon for us at Walton's Fancy and Staple). I went home with the most awesome unitasker ever...but more about that later.
For both of these fine events I found inspiration for my gifts - or at least the wrapping of them - on my favorite online timesuck - Pinterest. Now, the notion of wrapping gifts in cloth is nothing new - Korea has its bojagi, Japan has its furoshiki and now I have my new favorite way to wrap cookbooks and kitchen paper goods - Dish Towel-gami.
A word of warning - if you are one of the Kid's awesome teachers, look away now or you will spoil your Christmas surprise. Everyone else, keep reading for a quick tutorial on how to master this easy and eco-friendly wrapping method.

First, you place the thing you want to wrap - it helps if it's a square or rectangle shape - on the dish towel so that the fabric is wrapping around the gift on the bias (across the grain of the fabric).

Then fold over the top and bottom flaps, tucking in the towel to make a neat edge.

Draw the right and left triangle-shaped "ties" across the package and knot.

Slip an ornament or gift tag through the top tie and double knot. And you're done! You've done something nice for the planet by not using wrapping paper that will end up in a landfill and your giftee gets a bonus gift of a nice dish towel (which, let's face it, you can never have too many of). My final word of advice - choose a towel with an all-over pattern. Traditional dobby weave or jacquard tea towels are the best.

P.S. My white elephant gift - The Butter Cutter! For some reason, I think it is the most awesome gadget ever. Seriously.

::30 Days with a Grateful Heart::
As the holidays are swiftly approaching, I'm so grateful for our cozy home here in Southwest Austin. We love our neighborhood and the enthusiastic Christmas light displays put on all around it. I'm so glad we found such a great place for the Kid to grow up.

Linking up for Tidy Mom's I'm Lovin' It! post.