fabric wraps

while we are on japanese crafts i would like to introduce you to furoshiki. it is basically a way to wrap gifts in fabric, instead of wrapping paper. on the craft magazine blog there's a little article about how the japanese government (links to a pdf of the folding techniques) are trying to promote this old craft, to cut down on the waste of paper. smart, no? if i get a present wrapped in fabric i would certainly keep the piece to re-use, but with paper it would go into the paper recycling bin. you could use scraps of fabric or even make a little patchwork of different pieces of textile.