Simply Green Giving: Create Beautiful and Organic Wrappings, Tags, and Gifts from Everyday Materials

I am a huge fan of Danny Seo. I think the ideas in this book are clever and creative. He has earned his reputation as the eco-Martha Stewart. This book has fun ideas for wrapping favors and thank you gifts for weddings. Go green!

I got this book today and after flipping through it for a minute, knew I would want to set aside time to read it in its entirety this evening. I read the entire book and all the instructions in one sitting, then went back over my favorites. Seo is a charming writer with some great ideas for gift-giving and wrapping. In a book this size (it is only 140 pages), I would hope for meaty ideas, all or most of which I will actually use, and in this I was not disappointed. Danny shows us some amazing ways of bring both green and frugal, showing us how to make some quick and original gifts that anyone would be pleased to receive, and how to wrap them to best effect using things around the house, or green alternatives to costly and non-environmentally friendly packaging. A few favorite projects are the leaf and grass labels, the photo watch gift tag (or just gift!), washable soap gift tags, natural box fillers, making a gift box out of an old hardback book, terra cotta blooming boxes, and work-shirt fabric wrapping. There are a few clunkers, for one he suggests using unusual things as ribbons for wrapping, like old Christmas lights or belts, but I find that when I get that creative with the wrapping, people get really confused about what they are supposed to do with the belt or lights used to wrap the gift. I don't like making giftees feel that they have to hang onto a silly something because it was around their present, and I don't like the idea of the person then having to throw away such a clunky object when perhaps it could have found new life at a thrift store. But on the whole the ideas are surprisingly doable and practical, and I was totally inspired by his green attitude towards life in general. This is a big hit!

I can't wait until Christmas because Danny Seo's book has given me many new ideas as to how to give and/or wrap gifts that are pretty, fun, and environmentally friendly. I always felt guilty after the xmas season, throwing away all those wrappings. But, in this book, Seo presents 4 chapters--Cards and Tags, Boxes, Gift Wrap and Bows, and Handmade Giving. Each chapter gives ideas on how to reuse something you already have as a creative wrap, or how to use something that's renewable, from nature, to give that thoughtful present. I love the holiday or gift card luminaries idea; the gift for candle lovers; the money ring; the shopping spree gift card bag, to name a few. There are many more ideas to inspire the reader to create unusual presents that will be remembered. They do not look tacky or too "homemade", for the most part. And they don't require a lot of odd materials (there is a resource section in the back of the book, if needed). A friend of mine always gives gifts in unique wrappings. I can't always remember the gift, but I do always look forward to and remember the presentation. She has taught me that thoughtful and creative gift giving is more important--and memorable--than you'd expect. And this book can help me do that. For more details, I'd recommend that you buy the book (made out of recycled paper, of course.)