Wrap and Give, Unwrap and Give Again

It was a great day for me at the post office this morning, with notes from two of my dearest friends, a check (payment for books), the New York Review of Books and, last but not at all least, a package from Marjorie Farrell. Marjorie and her husband come to Northport from Woodstock, New York, on a semi-annual basis to spend time with Walt’s mother, and besides being a serious reader and writer, Marjorie (unlike your bookseller blogger here) is a very creative craftswoman, always trying something new—in fact, a lot like my Northport friend Sally at Dolls and More, another local shop where Marjorie hangs out when she’s in town.

So what was in the package? Furoshiki cloths! Marjorie had been working on them and suddenly had a brainstorm about how perfect these traditional Japanese wrapping cloths would be for holiday book-giving! I love how easy books are to wrap, anyway, but with these cloths the wrapping is reusable, not trash to throw away, so if you should be lucky enough to receive a gift wrapped in a Furoshiki cloth, you can use it to wrap the next gift you give, or the cloth can be a small table cover or even wall art. And when you give a book this way, you’re really giving two gifts in one. I've opened one of the folded ones (below) so you can see how ready it is to receive a book.


This one with the bright stocking print looks perfect for a Santa gift. It reminds me of Palmer Brown’s illustrations for his wonderful book (now, sadly, out of print), The Silver Nutmeg.


Marjorie will be at Dog Ears Books on Saturday, December 18, with many more lovely prints and fabrics (and wrapping instructions), and she will do an on-site wrapping demonstration. That’s exactly one week before Christmas, so we’ll have cookies, too, and make it a little party.