Japan's colorful traditional paper ties called mizuhiki are good for more than wrapping presents - you can make wonderful accessories, too. Learn how!
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What is mizuhiki?

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Estimated to have been around from as early as the 9th century, the decorative art form of mizuhiki (水引) has persevered over generations as a visual way to represent human benevolence in gift-giving.

The most common form of mizuhiki comes in white, red or gold strands of hardened washi wrapped around envelopes or gifts, while the art itself comes from the techniques used to beautifully tie the cords. These different tying techniques have been refined over the years, and when combined with certain colors of cords, mizuhiki can be used to express things like get-well wishes and condolences without even saying a word.

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Creating mizuhiki accessories

Photo by Jen Laforteza

Aside from their usage as decorations for gifts, mizuhiki are also used to create all sorts of accessories. Once you’ve tied your cords into the mizuhiki style of your choosing, they’re really easy to adapt into all sorts of accessories you can use in day-to-day life.

For this project, we’re using the AROMA Cord incense to create mizuhiki. We’ve introduced the AROMA Cord incense in one of our articles in the past, where we also talked about other creative ways you can use the cord.


Photo by Jen Laforteza

Read the rest of the article and learn step-by-step how to make wonderful accessories and art objects using this colorful ancient Japanese version of ribbon and ties, by visiting our partner’s website, grape Japan at “Fashioning Japan’s ancient mizuhiki artform into modern accessories using the AROMA Cord”.

Author: grape Japan

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