Wrapper's Delight: How to Wrap Gifts Like a Pro

Hey guys! How many of you have finished your holiday shopping? I'm almost there. I always like to get a jump start on the shopping, but I always drag my feet when it comes to wrapping. Typically gifts are thrown in a gift bag with some tissue paper, because wrapping presents is not a skill I encompass. Luckily, a good friend of mine, Amanda, is stepping in to show you and me how to wrap gifts like a pro! 

Now, here's Amanda! {well, actually it's still me, but the tips are all from Amanda}. We started with a very simple, small cubed gift. Set the gift upside down in the center of the wrapping paper, making sure that the side piece covers about 3/4 of the gift. 

Now, cut the paper. We used paper that had the cut lines on it {this stuff is made for people like me}. Cut along the line that would be equal the number of squares on the other side. With this lined paper, it's easiest to just count the lines on one side, then cut at that line on the other. 

Now that we have our piece of wrapping paper, fold down the longer sides until it nicely covers the gift. This is where I would typically go nuts with the scissors and end up cutting too much. Which would either lead to the gift being exposed, or a very oddly placed stick on bow.

With both sides folded, pull the paper tight. Don't tape the paper to the gift. Again, something else I would have done here. 

When Amanda told me you should only use 3 pieces of tape per gift, I laughed. I thought she was kidding. 

Now that we have the gift covered, we need to close off the ends. Start by sliding the gift towards one end, leaving enough space to cover the end. Then fold the sides in. It's not important to get this part perfect yet, as we won't be taping it down just yet. What?? Really? Why? Just wait. 

Without taping down that side, stand the gift up. We have put everything in place so that we know we have enough paper, but we will go back and finish it after this step. 

Now is a time you may need to cut off excess paper. Oh. Fold down the ends, starting with the sides first. Also, by folding the top you can create a nice, smooth line.  

Now we add those other two pieces of tape. One on this end, flip the gift over and finish the wrapping on the other end. Remember to pull the paper tight and press and seal folds so they are look clean.  

Just before Amanda arrived, I noticed I had about two pieces worth of tape left. So I ran out to grab more. Luckily, I saw some Scotch gift wrap tape and figured it would do. Little did I know that only clear gift wrap tape should be used. It really does make a big difference. 

Now it's time to add some accouterments {Brit's suggested word when I asked "what word can I use to say we added stuff?" Thank goodness for him}

Start by flipping the gift over, so the top is now the bottom. Run ribbon across the top {which is now the bottom}. 

Cross the ribbon, and then twist it so the ribbon will run along the opposite sides. Then flip the gift back over. 

Tie a knot so the ribbon stays in place, but don't tie it too tight. People typically want to open the gift, not spend 20 minutes fussing with and cussing at the ribbon. 

Tie a bow and you're finished! Amanda suggests adding little gifts to the bow as well. Fortunately, I had picked up several picture ornaments from Michaels {they were 4 for $10, amazing}. 

Beautiful right?! I'm impressed. But, what about those odd shaped gifts? Those gifts that aren't as perfectly squared? She can do those too. I gave her the most difficult gift I've purchased thus far. Why are all children's gifts packaged like this? 

So I thought you'd need to be an elf to be able to tackle gifts with odd packaging. This gift was definitely getting tossed in a bag if it was up to me. But Amanda assured me, it would be "easy". Her words. She looked at this and said easy. 
She started wrapping it just like the first one. Face down, one cut, one piece of tape. I was ready to see the struggle at this point, the sides. I was ready to see the paper crumble, the corner of the gift poke through, the tears stream down her face because all she wanted was to wrap a gift for her niece and why, why, why?? Not the case. At all. 

She recommended just wrapping the gift imagining it was a perfect box. Create the lines of a box by folding the paper into nice corners. 

If there is any excess, just fold it down. No need to cut that little bit. Oh, again. 

Now add ribbon. Lots, and lots of ribbon. I would have taken one piece of ribbon and wrapped it around and wondered why my gifts always look so pathetic. Amanda added six pieces of ribbon. That's why. 

 And there you have it. A difficult gift, wrapped perfectly. 

 Now it was my turn. Taking everything she had taught me, I was ready to put it into action. I took a gift that was not a perfect size, but close. I'm just starting out, I need to take it slow.

 And looky there! I wrapped a gift and it looks good, so it is possible!  

Adding the ribbon always makes me anxious because I never know how much to use, or how to tie a bow. Amanda suggests not cutting the ribbon until you've wrapped it around the gift in the desired way and know that you will have enough. Duh. She then told me to tie a bow like I would tie my shoes. "Yea but it never looks good." It will, she said. And it did. I always tried to get the ribbon perfectly straight on the gift and fussed with it so much I ended up destroying it. A sideways bow looks great, she said. And it does. 

There you have it! Wrapping a gift like a pro, thanks to Amanda! I seriously learned so much from her and had so much fun doing it. Who knew that learning how to wrap gifts could be such a blast?! 

Now it's your turn! Do you have any added tips or tricks that you use when wrapping presents? 

A big, big, BIG, thank you to Amanda for helping out with this post. If it wasn't for her, everything would be thrown in bags, or closely resemble this piece of work. 

{wrapping done by Amanda's significant other}

Thanks for visiting!