Skip the Boring Gift Bag — Use Vintage Scarves Instead

I might be great at picking out great housewarming gifts, but wrapping them up neatly is another story entirely. Most of the time I do a fine job, but I still always seem to end up with wrinkled, crinkled corners instead of neat, clean lines.

I often default to gift bags for this reason, but they can be a little uninspiring at times. Plus, both of these methods can lead to a lot of paper waste. So when I discovered that you could use a scarf to wrap gifts instead, I knew it could be a brilliant swap to boring gift bags.

“For your next party trick, bring Champagne and leave the scarf as a gift,” the person behind Catalogue Collection LLC, a women’s clothing boutique, writes in a TikTok video that shows them placing two bottles of rosé on top of a green patterned scarf, wrapping them up in the silky fabric, and tying it at the top. While these styles of scarves can be pricey when bought new, you should be able to find plenty at thrift shops for much cheaper.

This creator is far from the first person to have this general idea. AT contributor Jennifer Prince wrote about how much she enjoys wrapping gifts in vintage fabric squares from the thrift store, an idea inspired by furoshiki, a long-standing Japanese tradition of using fabric to wrap gifts and other trinkets.

Wrapping gifts using scarves is simple enough — you just have to make sure you have a piece of fabric big enough to cover your gift. “I just tested two sizes on wine bottles,” one commenter wrote. “26×26 works well but a 30×30 worked the best!” 

This trick isn’t just for wrapping up wine for parties, of course. Commenters suggest using this method for olive oil, sauces, and jams, and it could also be great for perfume, makeup, skincare, or truly anything else small enough to fit within the fabric. Vintage scarves and fabric squares are elegant and beautiful, but you could always go a more practical route. “I bought wine, needed it to stay safe and pulled new socks over it. New tradition when going over to [people‘s homes] now,” one clever commenter noted.