Very nice stories showing the cultural background and the inspiration behind the art. The writing is just - gentle. The whole book is so calm and relaxing. The pictures are beautiful.

The instructions are good. Very clear, lots of pictures, easy to follow along. Most of the designs are quite simple, but still good looking.

One thing I believe could've been better is the layout of the book.
All the stories are at the beginning, followed by the instructions. I would've preferred the two of them alternating. This is not supposed to be a book you read front to back, so why act like it? It's something I'd skim through, spending some more time on that story or those instructions.

Thank you NetGalley and Storey Publishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Start saving scrap paper, found objects, maps, magazines and old sewing patterns now. Megumi Loran Inouye has an innovative and creative way to wrap gifts in a sustainable way. Techniques based on Japanese traditions and furoshiki, cloth wrapping.

Instructions are easy to follow and broken into sections depending on the shape of the object: Square, Rectangular, Cylindrical and so on....

If you love adding a special touch to your gifts or living a no waste lifestyle, pick up a copy of The Soul of Gift Wrapping today.

Lovely! Just lovely! I loved the how beautifully aesthetic this book is. The author's words on pages four through fifty allowed the reader and the author to connect in experiences despite never meeting. The preparation section is super helpful. The step by step directions was amazing.

I love the Japanese art of gift-wrapping, how it enhances and cherishes the gift and the person presented with it. So I was looking forward to this book by Megumi Lorna Inouye.
There is a great excursion into the Japanese culture with its philosophies behind gift-wrapping, or wrapping in general - down to wrapping foodstuffs or food deliveries.

All those concepts and terms of Japanese life (mottaninai, furoshiki, omotenashi, susowake, washi, kintsugi, shinzuo, kokoro, orikata, monozukuri, musubi, okaeshi, etc) I loved to learn about and would recommend a glossary at the back of the book for reference.

Most of the fancy Japanese papers (washi/origami) shown are incredibly expensive, at least here in the UK. Old maps and antique sewing patterns ditto and I could not bring myself to cut either of them up.

Re instructions: I might well be manually or 3D challenged, but I could not follow a lot of those wrapping instructions (“Paper should wrap to the top of the item and cover approximately three-quarters of the item twice, once on the top side and once at the bottom.”). Using paper with a different colour on either side would make the instructions so much easier.

That said, I enjoyed the nudge this book gave me to take time and respect a present’s wrapping.