The Beauty of Bojagi, Korean Gift Wrapping

Long before the gift box, there was the cloth.

In Korea, a square of fabric called a bojagi wrapped everything worth protecting: a bride’s trousseau, a bowl of rice carried to a field, a gift sent between families.

The bojagi cloth was never thrown away. It went back in a drawer and came out again for the next occasion.

This holiday, you can choose to a bojagi wrap at checkout. No box, no paper, nothing to recycle. When the knot comes undone, the cloth is yours. Here’s how to tie one yourself, so you can keep the tradition going.

• One square cloth, about 20 inches. Linen or cotton, not satin. Matte cloth holds its shape.
• One hair elastic in a color close to the cloth.
• Something small to wrap. A jar, a bottle, a set of three.

bojagi credit @areumdeuri YouTube channel

1. Lay the cloth flat, pattern side down. If your cloth has a right and wrong side, the wrong side faces up. Place the gift in the center.
2. Gather the four corners up over the gift. Lift them together so the cloth closes around the object like a pouch. Pull it snug at the neck.
3. Slip the elastic around the gathered neck. Twist it twice so it holds. This is doing the work a knot would do, with none of the bulk.
4. Fold each corner outward and tuck the tip under the elastic. Four corners, four tucks. The tips disappear and the folds open up like petals. This is the step that turns a pouch into a flower.
5. Fluff and shape. Pull the petals apart, turn the gift so the best side faces front. Done.

Use it for the next gift. Line a tray with it. Tie it around a bottle for a dinner party. In Korea a bojagi was passed between households for years, and the cloth itself became part of the story. Yours can, too.