unboxing

Via My Modern Met, we are introduced to the Japanese craft and cloth called furoshiki (風呂敷), a traditional wrapping medium and technique that seems like an appealing alternative to the customary pile of crumpled papers that is the detritus of the holidays.
Originating during the early Edo period, the practice was first devised as a way for bathers to bundle their clothes after disrobing at public spas and avoid a wardrobe mix up and eventually extended its meaning to include packaging wares for transport or to present and decorate a gift. Furoshiki has seen a decline—remaining all along the preferred way, however, to pack bento boxes as the cloth insulates and doubles as a place-mat—but is now enjoying a resurgence thanks to growing attention to our impact on the environment.