Annapaula Freire de Oliveira
Former Community Editor , Europeana Foundation
#MakeItFestive: Gift Wrapping
- Title:
- Hungarian Ornamental Motifs from Tiszapolgár.
- Creator:
- István Gróh, Károlyi György kő- és könyvnyomdája, Budapest.
- Date:
- 1904
- Institution:
- Schola Graphidis Art Collection, Hungarian University Of Fine Arts - High School Of Visual Arts, Budapest.
- Copyright:
- CC BY-SA
This is the third blog in a series dedicated to end-of-the-year festivities and highlighting Europeana content that can inspire festive creative reuse by makers.
Gift-giving is one of the many traditions during the holiday season. How you wrap these items adds an extra element of surprise and intrigue and has an important role during festivities. As a long-standing tradition, wrapping gifts uses many different forms and materials, like paper, textiles or gift boxes.
Thanks to Europeana and new web applications, it’s now easy to find, be inspired by and use print designs to make gift-wrap. Forget pre-made gift bags and dazzle your friends and family with Europeana’s openly licensed content!
Check out our selection of gift-wrap ideas below
Take a look at the dress fabric of printed cotton from the Calico Printer's Association in the UK. The print (originally for a dress) is adorned with repeating images of Pierrot, a French pantomime character. His repeating figure focuses on the character’s essentials, a wide collar, hat and fools' outfit.
Dress fabric of printed cotton, made by Calico Printer's Association, Great Britain, 1937. Victoria And Albert Museum. CC BY
Fun and striking, the print below (also from the manufacturer Calico Printer's Association) features jellyfishes in bold colours. Add a non-traditional and modern touch to this year’s gift-wrap!
Dress fabric of printed cotton, made by Calico Printers Association, Great Britain, 1945. Victoria And Albert Museum. CC BY
Another famous design company in the UK was the Silver Studio, from the 1880’s until the middle of the twentieth century. Make the gift wrapping as important as the gift by using beautiful prints like this one!
Textile design. Silver Studio. 1897. Museum Of Domestic Design & Architecture, Middlesex University. CC BY
If you interested in Art Nouveau, check out our collections of ornamental motifs in hungarian style - you have over 100 to chose from and all are free for you to do anything with. Show someone you love them with a gift wrapped in the hearts from this beautiful design below!
Hungarian Ornamental Motifs from Tiszapolgár. István Gróh, Károlyi György kő- és könyvnyomdája, Budapest. 1904. Schola Graphidis Art Collection, Hungarian University Of Fine Arts - High School Of Visual Arts, Budapest. CC BY-SA
Furoshiki
Using fabric to enclose your gift can be a creative and eco-friendly alternative to wrapping paper. Furoshiki is a traditional Japanese cloth traditionally used to transport clothes, gifts, or other goods. We selected a few fantastic textile prints to inspire DIY gift wrapping.
This bright screen-printed silk head scarf designed by André Derain is one of our favourites. The rough, non-symmetrical grapes pattern is set off by irregular black and yellow borders.
Screen-printed silk head scarf, designed by André Derain, made by Ascher Ltd, London, 1947.(...) Victoria And Albert Museum. CC BY
We want to learn from makers and promote case studies of how they are reusing our content. If you #MakeWithEuropeana, take advantage of the promotional support we can offer and get in touch! Email us or tweet to us using @EuropeanaLabs and the hashtags #MakeWithEuropeana and #EuropeanaInspires. Stay up to date with future opportunities by signing up to the Europeana Labs newsletter!