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Friday 30 September 2016

Decorated Bamboo Gift Boxes - A Far East Alternative!


Bamboo grows relatively swiftly and requires little water or fertilizer, so is now marketed around the world as an environmentally friendly material.

Bamboo, as an alternative to solid wood, can be used to make stunning gift boxes and / or storage boxes. They are lightweight, durable and sturdy and can be used to package or contain anything from stationery to beauty products.

However, unlike timber which can be easily sawn into planks, the hollow bamboo stalks are usually cut into narrow strips, planed flat then boiled to remove any pest-attracting starches.

Making a gift box out of bamboo is relatively simple and straightforward and requires only a basic knowledge of the material, some woodworking skill and access to common hand tools.


Decorated Bamboo Gift Boxes

Bamboo can be used to make traditional rectangular, or square gift boxes, with decorative metal hinges and catches, or if you're feeling particularly you can create unusual shapes with imaginative hinge and fastening mechanisms.

Traditionally, bamboo can be decorated by hand painting with a wide variety of vibrant gloss colour paints and stains, or even decorated with delicately embroidered fabrics. However, before painting the bamboo may need to be sanded to remove it's natural, outer wax layer.

There are some 1,400 species of bamboo that grow worldwide but Moso bamboo is the most widely used which is grown in China and elsewhere in the Far East.

Bamboo is the fastest-growing plant in the world and can grow as much as 0.9m in a single day. Moso bamboo can grow to a staggering height of 23m and a diameter of 20cm. which means bamboo fields can truly be described as 'bamboo forests'

The strips of bamboo are kiln dried to remove excess moisture, glued into flat bundles, and then formed into sheets. The shreds can be treated with adhesive and pressed into panels or blocks ready to be made into beautifully decorated bamboo gift boxes.


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