Cloth Wrapping Paper and Mother's Day Cards

photo collage with four images: a cloth bag, a card that says "Stay Wild", a table with decorative fringe hanging above it, and a photo of a bright yellow triangle on a colorful printed background. web address in the bottom right corners says "amstationerycom"

I've been so inspired this week (and for the last few weeks) to make sewn items; mainly festive stuff like cloth bags and pouches, for the purpose of wrapping gifts in them, and a fun decoration I'll show you in a second.

 

Fabric Giftwrap

I have been thinking of ways to make fun fabric wrapping paper for a while now. I love the idea of reusable wrapping, but I have to say that the one thing that's so satisfying about opening a present is ripping the paper off. So I've made these fabric bags, but my next feat is to make them fun to open... make the opening process take a little longer. More on that to come...

two fabric gift bags displayed on a wooden table with part of a painting and the top of a guitar visible in the background
a small fabric gift bag of dark blue with a white flower print sits atop a wooden table with a yellow flowering plant in the background

 

Slingers / Flag Bunting

In addition to these fabric bags, I've also made these fun things called "slingers" in Dutch - a string of flags you can hang in your house during a celebration, to add a bit of festivity to the air.

wooden table with 3 colorful tins and a vase of yellow flowers on it. Above the table hangs a string of flag bunting, referred to as slingers in Dutch, they are colorful and each flag has a different festive print on it

During my au pair exchange year, I enjoyed these immensely. When it was my birthday, my host parents surprised me by having these slingers strung all throughout the house when I woke up. It was a lovely feeling, and added extra brightness to the air that day.

The next day, they gathered them all again and put them back into a box to use for the next birthday. The ones they used were plastic, but I thought I could create some with fabric pretty easily and they would store a little better (without the wrinkles and flimsiness that plastic has).

I actually made some last year out of crocheted cotton yarn, but it took hours upon hours and the result was a relatively small, short string of them. 

a large window with a wide sill, a cat resting on a pillow, with a string of flag bunting strung from one corner and tied to something out of frame

To make these fabric bags and party slingers, I purchased several colorful bedsheets and pillow covers from the local thrift store, then I began ripping seams and sewing triangles together. It was so much fun!

a small desk with a small white sewing machine atop it. in front of the sewing machine sits four piles of colorful flags

several colorful flags are spread out on a couch cushion, with strings coming out from either side

I currently have two sets of these for sale in my shop. They're priced at $30 each, or 2 for $50. The best part about them is that you can move the flags independently, in case you have to string them around a corner or tie them in an awkward way. They also have buttons and loops at each end, so you can connect two together and get a very long string of them! They are each about 4.5 meters long, or 14.5 feet.

a stack of colorful cloth triangles with strings hanging off each side, resting on brightly colored fleur de lis / paisley pattern

Later, I will probably make a cute carrying case for them! Right now, I am focused on better fabric wrapping, and hopefully I will have time for some Congrats Greeting Cards, too, since it's graduation season.

Greeting Cards

Which reminds me, last week I also had the pleasure of making several Mother's Day cards!! Have a look...

a collage of several different cards with various women depicted on them and other mother's day greetings

I got to send a few to moms of my friends, one of my best friends bought this card for his mom.

greeting card displaying a drawn woman holding a flower, a plaquard with "You are the Best" written on it, and a paper notion with a flower

the inside of a mothers day card with a nice, handwritten inscription

I had one large order from the mom of a family I used to nanny for. She has several sisters and ordered a few for her best friends, too! As well as, of course, her mom and her mom's best friend, who has been in her life for decades. It was absolutely wonderful to be a part of spreading joy.

shows the inside of a greeting card with a nice inscription about mother's day, along with a tea satchet and a little gold heart sticker

shows the inside of a greeting card with a nice inscription about mothers day, along with a tea satchet and paper "list of self care items" including take a bath, read a book, and have a cup of tea

I was an especially large order, too, because she also asked for a few teacher's appreciation cards, since that was going on this week as well. I was happy to oblige! I had some stuff laying around that ended up working perfectly.

greeting card with a small child on it, a girl with a braid and a little pencil skirt. there are stickers all over with short, sentimental phrases in type font and a big grey heart that says "so blessed to have you". a stack of books (made from paper) with a steaming cup atop it sits in the bottom right corner

grey background, white strip of paper decorated with multi-colored sprinkles, underneath a cut-out of a small boy child dressed in a matching tropical top and bottom with sunglasses on. to the right, three different strips of paper with words on them spell out "Coolest Teacher Ever"

And that's about all the updates I have for this week! Thanks for stopping by!

Keep writing and stay curious...
Xx,
Alison

info@amstationery.com

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