How to Wrap Absolutely Any Gift (Even If You’re Out of Tape or Paper)

Posted on December 7, 2023 by resourcefulman

The holidays are approaching, which means you have a lot to do. You need to make travel plans to visit loved ones, reception plans to visit loved ones , party plans, shopping plans , cleaning plans, decorating plans and any other plans. While most of these plans are well within the capabilities of an adult, there is one plan that baffles even the smartest of people: wrapping all those gifts .

If you’ve ever sat down to wrap a mountain of gifts only to have a nervous breakdown after some unknown amount of time when you ran out of ribbon, you know how surprisingly stressful the gift-wrapping process can be. Even simple, classic boxes can look like you wrapped them in a dark room after a long day, and oddly shaped gifts can often feel overwhelming. But don’t despair—wrapping gifts, even those with custom packaging (or no packaging at all), is easier than you think.

How to pack a gift

First things first: the basics. If your approach to gift wrapping involves haphazardly sticking pieces of tape onto wrapping paper, resulting in what holiday scholars call abomination , rejoice: Wrapping a traditional box-shaped gift is actually easy once you know the basic approach. and there are many gifts. wrapping hacks and ideas if you’re looking to up your wrapping game or are faced with a particularly tricky gift form.

Classic methods

The easiest way to wrap a gift is to put it in a traditional square or rectangular box, if possible. So you can use the classic approach :

Place the box face down on the back of the wrapping paper still attached to the roll. You should have enough paper on both sides so that it takes up about three-quarters of the height of the box.
Fold the free end of the paper over the box so that it can curl over the other end of the box and touch the back of the paper.
Cut the paper, adding a three-inch margin from the edge of the box.
Trim the paper so that the margins around it are the same.
Turn the box face up.
Fold about two inches of paper over the box on the shorter side and secure with tape.
Stretch the other side over the top of the box and secure with tape. For added style, you can fold it underneath itself and use double-sided tape to create a neat seam instead of a taped edge in the middle of the box.
At the ends, fold the paper into triangles at the top and bottom, fold and fold. Then pull the edge down and tape it in place. Repeat on the other end.

Voila! A gift wrapped in cromulen (you can see it here ). Some folding is not 100% necessary, but the result is a neater looking job. And you can use double-sided tape to hide it, creating a seamless look, but that’s also an added bonus and isn’t absolutely necessary.

If speed is more important than a refined final product, you can do a quick wrap :

Measure the paper so that it completely encloses the box by adding two inches.
Place the narrow side of the box diagonally against the back of the paper.
Take the corner closest to you and fold it over so it meets the edge of the box to your left and secure with tape.
Fold the edge you created and lift the paper flap flush with the edge of the box. Secure with tape.
Repeat the same on the other three sides.

These classic approaches require a lot of tape, which means you’ll likely run out of tape. Plus, all that feed can get you crazy and confused, especially as you get increasingly frantic as gift deadlines approach. But you don’t actually need ribbon to wrap a gift:

Cut the paper so that there are two-inch margins around the box.
Turn the paper into a diamond shape and place the box in the middle.
Fold the bottom of the diamond up and tuck it under the box.
Fold both sides and fold the top of the box.
While holding these ends in place (awkwardly with your wrist), fold the top down and over again.
Tuck the tip under the folded sides.

You can see how it was done here – no tape was used at all!

Pro Tip: As with any artistic endeavor, it’s all about the finishing. Now that you have a perfectly wrapped gift, add some ribbon to highlight the fact that you’re better than everyone else, and for the finishing touch , use custom labels. You can use a fancy label maker to create your labels, grab some label templates for your printer , or simply buy custom gift tags .

Various materials

Not having tape is one thing, but what if you don’t have wrapping paper (or are concerned about the environmental impact)? You have many options :

Other papers. Newspaper, butcher paper, tissue paper, brown paper bags (like the kind you get at the grocery store), cut into sheets – after all, the main quality of wrapping paper is paper . If you still have wallpaper after renovation, you can use it too. Using paper without any design also gives you the opportunity to add unique, personalized designs and designs to each one.
Containers. If your gift is not in a box, you don’t have to buy a box and pack it if you have an alternative container. Old (cleaned) cans, metal cans, or cans (like paint cans if cleaned properly) can be used to place gifts. If you need a small box, turn the cereal box inside out.
Textile. Fabric can be a great way to wrap a gift that feels simultaneously more upscale, more personal and artful. You can look elegant and use Japanese furoshiki , or make DIY fabric gift bags , turn old sweaters into gift bags, or even use old towels, pillowcases and sheets to wrap gifts.
Garbage. If you don’t have any of the above materials, you can make some from things you usually throw away. Rolls of toilet paper or paper towels can be turned into elegant gift boxes with a few cuts and folds – they work very well for loose decorations that don’t have their own box. In a pinch, aluminum foil can be used to make glamorous wrapping paper . And empty (and cleaned) chip bags can be cut up, turned inside out and used as shiny wrapping paper if needed.

Various shapes

Of course, classic packaging methods – regardless of the materials used – work best when you need to cover a nice square shape. What happens when you try to pack something into a box that isn’t (and can’t be)? Here you have several options:

Illusion. If you have oddly shaped items, combine them and make them look like a completely different and hilariously inappropriate gift ( toilets are a popular shape!).
Literally. You can also just wrap it in a way that doesn’t hide what the gift is. It is best if the gift consists of several parts that can be wrapped separately and then put together.
Envelopes and bags. One of the easiest ways to wrap an unusually shaped gift is to place it in a gift bag. TikTok shows us that you can make your own gift envelope from wrapping paper (or any other type of paper) by simply cutting the required amount of paper and folding/gluing it into shape.
- Pro Tip: Place a piece of cardboard in the bottom of your DIY gift bag/envelope to give it stability.

There are also several approaches to gifts that are not boxes, taking into account the shape:

Cylindrical. There are two simple ways to wrap a cylindrical object. Both start by cutting a piece of wrapping paper that will enclose the gift with about an inch of overlap. One approach is to make a few slits at the top and bottom of the paper, then wrap the gift and tuck in the ridges created to create a neat top and bottom. Alternatively, secure the paper at the top and bottom with ribbon to give it a “festive” look.
Bottles. This is sort of a subcategory of cylinders, so you can use a hybrid of the two approaches above: cut out the tabs at the bottom of the paper to fold it into a nice base, but use the “party favor” ribbon approach at the end. vertex.
Flat and round. For large, flat objects, such as a tennis racket or guitar, trace their shape on paper, adding a healthy margin of three to four inches. Then cut out the shape twice and place the gift between them as if you were making a pie.
Spherical. When wrapping a spherical gift, choosing a fabric is easiest since you can simply wrap it around it and tie the top with a ribbon. For a more “finished” look, use a variation of the envelope technique described above, tailored to the dimensions of your gift, as shown here . Easiest choice? Any gift bag of suitable size.

Alternatives

Very large gifts, like a bike or exercise equipment (or, if you live in a world where advertising is real, a brand new car), may not need to be wrapped at all—just stick a bow on it and save it. out of sight until it’s time to exchange gifts. In fact, if your gift-giving cohort is on board, you can skip the gift wrapping entirely and just put the gifts in a bag until it’s time to exchange.

If you need to pack but don’t trust your ability to take simple measurements, make neat seams and apply tape without getting ruined (you’re my people), don’t forget that we live in a consumer society and there are professional packing services available , which you can use. Many stores will happily pack your purchases if you ask (sometimes for free), and there’s probably a packing service in your area (or a mobile one that will come to you) if you Google it (you can find a small directory of these services here ).

Gift wrapping is also a side hustle for some people, so it’s worth checking places like TaskRabbit or Thumbtack for wrapping services in your area.

More…

Home & Garden