alternatives to wrapping paper

we are down in cornwall for the christmas holidays staying with my little sis. apparently her local council don't recycle wrapping paper as a lot of them contain plastic and not so much paper. so she has asked us to think about using alternatives. you can read more about it here. recycled paper is definitely the way to go and check that what you're wrapping with is 100% paper so it can be recycled.

these are a few different ideas on what else to use -

we have been collecting the wrapping paper sheets from the guardian newspaper over the last week (above). each sheet is designed by a celebrity and some of them are quite nice.

the exotic paper company: recycled paper infused with tree seeds.

myfuroshiki: a japanese way of wrapping gifts with cloth.

acornpies: shows how to make origami boxes, good for smaller items.

you could also use pretty magazine pages.

or newspaper, especially coloured ones like the financial times. everyone likes pink don't they!

or how about a pretty piece of material that can be used by the receiver for a craft project.

tied up with a nice ribbon, i think these ideas would look lovely and make your gifts especially unique.

what will you be wrapping your gifts with this year?

sarada x

christmas traditions

we braved the bad weather this weekend and went out and got our christmas tree. dusted down the decorations tin and searched for the lights in the shed. we got our tree a bit earlier than usual as we are going away for the holidays so wanted to enjoy it a little bit first. when i was decorating the tree, it got me thinking about family traditions, the kind of christmases stanley will look forward to and what our part will be in creating these special memories for him. so much responsibility!

one of our traditions is to send my mum and j's mum a decoration for their tree. and they always send me something for ours too. so for this years decoration, stan and i made some hearts, birds and stars out of salt dough, inspired by the december/january issue of the green parent magazine, that we dried in the airing cupboard and threaded with ribbon and twine. we made a garland and put some on the tree. the others i will post. i just hope they survive the journey!

sarada x

a cosy day

we arrived home late last night, tired but happy after a long weekend away. it was cold and rainy today so a good excuse to stay in and get cosy. for lunch, we made bread rolls that we buttered hot from the oven and sweet potato and pumpkin soup. and i roasted the seeds too. i like to spoon them straight from the pumpkin onto the oven tray with the stringy bits and mix with oil and soy sauce. so i've been snacking on those all day in between making tents and inspired by one of little stan's favourite stories at the moment - we're going on a bear hunt, hiding from bears!

sarada x