kokka fabrics

Here are just a few of the new retro style prints from Kokka that can be found online by volksfaden in the category "Japanese Prints".

new fabrics & ribbons

Although I am officially taking break....I am using my time off to "tidy up" the shop and put new fabrics and ribbons online. There new ribbons from janeas world and rosa pomar, new organic cotton solids and organic cotton ginghams and new Kona Cotton solids in a few bright and cheery colors!

Merry Christmas

wiener werkstätten christmas card

merry christmas*frohe weihnachten*glædelig jul*vrolijk kerstfeest*hyvaa joulua*joyeux noel*zalig kerstfeest*nollaig chridheil*kala christouyenna!*kellemes karacsonyi unnepeket*gledileg jol*nollaig shona dhuit*buone feste natalizie*god jul*boze narodzenie*
feliz natal*sretan bozic*feliz navidad*cestitamo bozic

handmade 2.0

handmade holiday series by handmade 2.0

mlle a. left a comment under the free printable gift tags and I just stopped by to visit her blog and it is indeed a lovely German blog full of crafty ideas. She has done a daily crafting Xmas series to encouage homemade giving,Khend-meyd Holidays, and under December 12th you will find more very cute and free printable gift tags.

Katrin who also keeps a lovely online journal, sent in this link for some sweet tags in both German and English.

Thank you ladies!

half eaten gingerbread man

This is just about the cutest Christmas decoration I have seen this year. Seen via
whip up, where, by the way, there is a great list of Xmas decorations. Here is the link to the gingerbread man.

free printable gift tags

the blackapple gift tags
housewrenstudio gift tags
lollychops gift tags

I just started the search for free printable gift tags (because I pack the gifts I am going to give at the last possible minute) and here the links for a few of the lovely little tags I found:
papercrave
lollychops****this is an amazing site with oodles and oodles of great stuff
theblackapple
thepaperseed
housewrenstudio
The most comprehensive list of free printable tags can be found by belladia

furoshiki: wrapping gifts with fabric

Every year tons of wrapping paper go into our already overfilled landfills after the holiday season. Using fabric to wrap your packages actually can be a great alternative. Here is a diagram showing different tying methods using the traditional Japanese wrapping cloths, furoshiki. The the Japanese government has been promoting the use of furoshiki for years and the fun video below is a great and easy demonstration of a few of the methods. The use of fabric is of course absolutely ideal to wrap your children's gifts in, because their is a very good chance they won't be interested in the fabric and you can quietly put it back in your stash!