How to Gift Wrap with Yarn Scraps

This take on traditional Japanese-style fabric wrapping, Furoshiki, is a great way to showcase a pretty fabric, plus the wrap can be used again and again. You could also use a silk scarf, fun tea towel or fabric leftover from a project. Add some oversized tassels and you are good to go.

You Will Need
* Fabric – 45 x 45cm and 70 x 70cm are traditional Furoshiki sizes, but you can use any size as long as it's at least twice the surface area of your gift, to give you enough space to wrap.
* Scissors
* Scrap Yarn
* Card (to wrap your tassel around)

Place your fabric square on the diagonal, and put your gift in the bottom corner of the fabric square.

Turn your gift over, wrapping it in the fabric square as you do so. For a neat finish, the middle of your gift should align with the two opposite corners as you reach the middle.

When you reach the outside corner, fold the corner inside the wrap to create a neat edge across the middle of the gift.

Bring the two remaining corners up and in, overlapping them, then tie the corners together in a double knot.

It’s now time to make and attach the tassels. You will need to make two tassels per gift.

Use a piece of strong card approx. 10cm high, and wrap some scrap yarn around it approx. 50 times, or until your tassel is as full as you’d like.

Tie the top of the tassel tightly with a 10cm piece of yarn.

Slide off the card, then tie a second 10cm length around 2cm from the top of the tassel. Trim the loops at the bottom and neaten up.

Attach the tassels to your fabric-wrapped gift by passing the top ties of the tassel under the fabric knot. Tie your tassel onto the fabric here, then disguise the yarn knot by laying the fabric ties back down over the top.

Your wrapping is complete!

Add a special touch to a present using a small wooden hoop and some leftover yarn. Attached using a lark's head knot, the two yarns are then woven in a simple but effective pattern to create a really special finishing touch.

You Will Need
* Wrapping paper
* 2" Wooden Macrame Rings
* Scrap Yarn in Two Colours
* Masking or Low-Tack Tape
* Scissors

Wrap your gift in brown kraft paper.

Next, measure what length yarn you need by wrapping one piece around the widest part of your gift three times. Use this piece as your guide.

Cut 10 lengths of colour 1 and 10 lengths of colour 2, using your first piece as a guide.

Attach 10 lengths of colour 1 to the top of your ring using a lark’s head knot. To make the knot, first fold each strand in half and lay the folded mid-point on top of the ring.

Pull the folded end over the top of the ring and round to the back, now pull the ends of the folded yarn through the middle, and pull to tighten. You have made one lark’s head knot.

Repeat this process for all 10 lengths at the top of the loop in the 12 o’clock position.

Now repeat the process for your second colour, placing them at 9 o’clock on the ring.

When your pattern is formed, bring the remaining 10 strands from the front to the back of the gift, and remove the tape. Tie the corresponding colours firmly together so that the wooden ring and pattern sit securely on the front of the gift, without moving around.

Your wrapping is complete!

If you need a gift to both look and smell gorgeous, dried orange slices are a winner. Thread with pom poms in a complementary colour, such as dark greenish-blue, and place them against white wrapping paper to really make them pop.

You Will Need
* Wrapping Paper
* Dried Orange Slices
* Scrap Yarn
* Small 3.5cm Pom Pom Maker OR a Fork
* Yarn Needle
* Scissors
* Tape

Create four to six pom poms using the pom pom maker, or a fork.

If using a pom pom maker, start by wrapping yarn around two of the pom pom maker arms until the yarn fits snugly in the semi-circle. Repeat for the other side then close the pom pom maker.

On the pom pom maker, cut inside the grove around the outside edge, then tie a 10cm length of yarn tightly through the central groves to secure.

Then trim your pom poms to shape.

If using a fork, wrap the yarn around the outside of the prongs of the fork about 50 times.

Cut a 10cm length of yarn and tie it as tightly as possible around the middle of the wrapped bundle, going through the centre prong of the fork.

Cut the top and bottom of the fork bundle to release the pom pom.

Then trim your pom poms to shape.

Taking your long length of yarn cut earlier, attach a yarn needle to one end, and secure the other end to the back of your gift using tape.

Wrap the yarn around your gift, threading a few pom poms and a piece of orange onto your yarn needle each time you wrap over the front of the gift.

Repeat this around six times, wrapping without adding a decoration every couple of wraps.

When you are happy with how it looks, tape the loose end to the back of the gift and trim any pom pom ties.

Adjust a little and enjoy!