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Saturday, November 29, 2008

Gift Wrapping with Mizuhiki Cord

I decided to decorate some of my Christmas presents this year with mizuhiki cord. The knot on the box is called an abalone knot. It's also referred to as awabi musubi, the Josephine knot, or a good luck knot. This is one of the easier mizuhiki knots to make.




Supplies
:
mizuhiki cord - I purchased the cord in SF Japan town. You can also find it online.
scissors
hot glue gun








First make the abalone shell knot. I used five cords to make the knot. I recommend starting with three cords then weaving the last two cords into the knot. Make sure to keep your cords flat when making the knot. You don't want the cords to be twisted. Set the knot aside for later.

Using three mizuhiki cords, wrap the gift just like you would using ribbon and knot on top.

Take one of the tales of the knot and make a loop. Tuck the end of it into the center knot and pull through part of the way.

Space the cords of the loop to look like the picture above. Trim the tails of the cord.

Take the abalone knot and hot glue it to the top of the gold cord. You can also use wire to adhere it to the top as well.

If you liked this post, you might also like "How to Make a Mizuhiki Heart Knot".

30 comments:

mushroommeadows said...

How pretty!

Bel said...

It's fab, Jessica :D Bet you do origami as well?

Heidi K. Rettig said...

I love this simple, clean embellishment. Really gorgeous work, as always!!

Anonymous said...

So pretty! I'm going to try it, although I am notoriously bad at present wrapping...

Geek+Nerd said...

That's beautiful!

nobu said...

Suprised! Mizuhiki cord is sold in U.S.

I think it is a nice idea and this is a very useful post.

Rachel@oneprettything.com said...

Oh how pretty! I've seen that before and always wondered what people did with it, thanks! I'll be linking.

Unknown said...

cool...this will come handy, I've got plenty of presents to give away for Xmas :D

Rachael Hutchings said...

I LOVE mizuhiki--makes me miss Japan! I've never tried actually doing it myself though! I need to make a trip to the Japanese grocery/book store sometime soon and I'll have to pick some up and give it a go!

Ayie said...

People always thought my gift wrapping craft was really good, but I beg to differ. This one is really, really beautiful! Very elegant!

redchuckstress said...

YOu are very talented! Beautiful wrapping!

Jodz said...

This is so gorgeous and effecitve. Whoever gets these presents is not going to want to unwrap them :)

Liz said...

Very neat. I alwasy wondered how my Japanese friend made those...

Kristin said...

What a beautiful and unique wrap! Thanks for sharing

Alli Bozeman said...

i've had a bunch of that cord for years that i bought at a neat japanese store in l.a. - it didn't have instructions and now i am so excited to know how to tie it properly! thanks!

Julia Aston said...

Beautiful! this would have to be used on a present for a person that would REALLY appreciate the beauty of the knots!! and maybe not even open the present!!! LOL!!!

World Wide Alternative said...

Oh the home sickness...XXxx

cindy lee jones said...

Wow that is fantastic, thanks so much for sharing !

Ginger said...

It's gorgeous love the dressy look it gives the presen! Thank you so much for sharing it with us and giving us an idea for gifts wrapping.
hugs

Anonymous said...

Your package is beautiful! Thank you so much for sharing this-I will definitely be including this in my Christmas wrapping.

Ritesh said...

Why not begin a new and original family tradition for giving anniversary year presents that is guaranteed to delight and satisfy men and women alike

tawyn said...

wow this is gorgeous - thanks for sharing

Sally Duffin said...

At Christmas time I believe the things that children do.

I believe with English children that holly placed in windows will protect our homes from evil.

I believe with Swiss children that the touch of edelweiss will charm a person with love.
nice post and thanks for sharing...

dilasari said...

Thank you very much for the tutorial. It's beautiful and very useful for me who have long been looking for a gift wrapping idea.

khushboo said...

really beautiful
thanks for sharing

Ankit Doshi said...

This is fabulous!! I love it....

Nancy Ward said...

Hi!

Wanted you to know I posted a link to this tutorial today pon my blog, PaperFriendly.

Nancy Ward
paperFriendly
http://www.nancywardcrafts.com

Charissa said...

Beautiful. I love furoshiki, but haven't tried my hand at gift wrapping with mizuhiki yet! You make it look easy.

Christy B said...

Love it! Thank you for the tutorial!

Yamayka's Gift Wrapping Ideas said...

Beautiful and simple ideas are the best!Thanks for sharing.I must try this on my next gift wrapping project.
Thanks!

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