Helpful illustrated Japanese wrapping instructions

Shimojima in Japan has a nice collection of how-to photos and illustrations. It's also a great source for ideas.

Check out their "wrapping clips". They are pdf's with step-by-step photos. The instructions are in Japanese, but the photos give so much info you don't need to read Japanese to find these useful.

Also nice is this page of links to illustrated step-by-step instructions for a few methods of wrapping and creating bows, including on the diagonal (like they do in department stores in Japan.

And for idea shopping, these images of the techniques taught in their various wrapping classes.

Save a trip

Wrap with what you've already got. Wrap Art has lots of ideas. They were recently featured on the cover of Craft Magazine.

Nice furoshiki tips from Kakefuda

Found this nice video where Kakefuda, who makes the most beautiful and modern furoshiki in Kyoto, shows a few ways to tie furoshiki


Also found a few illustrated instructions for tying on their site (instructions are in Japanese) as well as a page with images of them in use:

Petit Bag (seen late in video above)
Drop Bag (as seen in video above)
Shopping Bag(seen in video above)
Notebook Bag
One-knot Wrap
Two-knot Wrap
Four Corner Wrap
Cylinder Wrap
Two Bottle Wrap

Japanese Furoshiki Video

Appears to have been created as part of the Mottainai furoshiki effort by the Japanese Ministry of the Environment to encourage people to use furoshiki rather than disposable bags.

Note: Some wrapping instructions start about 43 seconds in and end at 1:06.

Hopefully this has arrived by now

It's a present for my sister's birthday.

A few new favorite things....

Step into our home office and you'll see I have a bit of a paper fetish. A new favorite is cards from ThePaperPrincess.com . A few arrived in the December Sampler and I promptly ordered more. They arrived today - the quality of the paper is luscious — a smooth satiny matte that takes ink nicely. The images, colors, and patterns are sweet without being sappy. Fresh without trying to be hip.

Tasty Sourdough? Until 2 weeks ago that was an oxymoron for me. But then I tasted the fantastic Sour Rye bread at Bakery Nouveau in West Seattle. The owner was the captain of the GOLD medal team in the World Baking Competition in Paris. If you go there, you won't be able to miss the ginormous trophy sitting on the counter. The place is still fairly new. When I went, the sign was just handlettered on a piece of paper taped to a sandwich board. You'll find it just a few doors south of Northwest Art and Frame in the Junction.

Bento Boxes

I love packing my son's lunches in bento boxes. They are reusable; they keep the food in good shape; and they help make lunch more fun and attractive. They make it fun for me and that's important, dammit -- because making lunch every night is boring!

We just bought this Shinkansen bento box at the Sanrio store at Bellevue Square.

We bought this Pokemon bento box during our trip to Japan last year

Feeding a 7 year old food critic

One night after returning home from working late, I found this little critique of the Fontina cheese I had purchased waiting for me in the refrigerator. A very poor image due to the dim light and my inept use of my new camera, I'm afraid. I was told the green colored blob is someone who died from eating the cheese. The face on the bottom is someone who "is sick and will likely die" from eating this cheese. I like the coining of the term "off-demand". I use it all the time now.

School has started and it's back to making lunches. I've decided to start keeping a log of all the lunches I make - since it consumes more of my energy and time than I would like.

This lunch menu: Prosciutto,Turkey & Havarti Wraps; cherry tomatoes from our garden; and kiwi/huckleberries - plus milk and a secret tiny ritter bar hidden in his lunch box.