Creative ways to wrap gifts
Once you’ve found the perfect gift, all that remains is the right kind of wrapping. Gift wrapping can be an art in itself. Take a look at our suggestions, instructions and ideas on how to wrap and decorate gifts beautifully and impress everyone with your wrapping. We also touch upon round presents and explain how you can pack gifts sustainably.
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Creative ways to wrap gifts – Instructions & tips
It doesn’t matter what size or shape your present is – every present can be wrapped beautifully. The more attractively a gift is wrapped, the greater the anticipation to open it. We will show you a few tips and tricks on how you can wrap gifts nicely and turn shapeless or round gifts into real eye-catchers.
Instructions: How to wrap a bottle
A good bottle of wine or a homemade bottle of herbal oil are popular gifts. However, it can be tricky to make them look nice when wrapped. Here are instructions and a few ideas on how to gift-wrap bottles.
- Cut a piece of wrapping paper large enough to wrap around your bottle once and a few centimetres larger both top and bottom.
- Place the wrapping paper face down and line the bottle up to the edge on the right. The paper should protrude about two centimetres at the bottom of the bottle. Now glue the side of the wrapping paper to the bottle and roll it to the left end so that the bottle is completely covered by the paper. Then tape the loose end to the bottle.
- Bend the paper at the bottom of the bottle and tape it.
- The top can be neatly bundled together above the bottle lid and wrapped with a gift ribbon. Your bottle will beautifully gift-wrapped.
Besides this basic idea for wrapping bottles, there are many variations that you can use for your gift. For example, you can just wrap paper around the bottle’s belly or just tie a bow and a gift tag to the neck of the bottle. Another idea is to design your own label for the bottle. On this you can write nice Merry Christmas wishes or write a personal message.
At Christmas time, it is a great idea to wrap the bottle as a Christmas elf. All you have to do is to cut a piece of felt or paper into a cylindrical elf hat and glue it to the neck of the bottle. Then pluck a long white beard from white cotton wool and stick on a cute pompom nose. That’s all there is to wrapping a bottle as a cute Christmas present!
You can also wrap a bottle in a stylish gift bag. Instructions for homemade gift bags can be found in the next section.
You can also wrap a bottle in a stylish gift bag. Instructions for homemade gift bags can be found in the next section.
Instructions: How to wrap odd-shaped gifts
Cuddly toys or figures are difficult to wrap. Using cellophane is a good way to get over this hurdle. If you bundle the cellophane together in an appealing way and put a nice ribbon on it, your present will have an elegant touch to it.
Another idea is to put odd-shaped gifts in gift-boxes or gift-bags. Just add a bow and a gift tag to give an individual touch to your gift. If you don’t have a gift bag on hand, that’s not a problem because you can easily make one yourself.
Instructions: How to make a gift-bag:
- Take a large piece of paper and lay it out in front of you. Place it facing the table in a landscape format.
- Fold both ends into the middle so that they overlap slightly and stick them together with tape.
- Now fold the lower third of your bag upwards.
- Place your index fingers on the top two corners of the folded section. Press the corners inwards towards the centre and fold it upwards in thirds. It will become a square with the lower tip pointing towards you.
- Now fold the lower tip of the square up to the middle and tape it. Next, fold the upper tip to the middle and tape it there.
- Now reach into your gift bag and carefully unfold it.
- After you’ve filled the gift bag, bend the upper end twice and use a hole punch to punch two holes through which you thread a gift ribbon. Before long you will have a lovely homemade gift-bag.
Video tutorial: How to wrap clothes and round gifts
Our video tutorial shows you how to wrap round gifts and clothes nicely. You will also find instructions on how to use as little paper as possible when you wrap presents. Just take a look:
Gift wrapping: Ideas for decorating
There are a many design options you can use to add the finishing touches to your gift to make them eye-catching and really stand out. If you want to wrap your presents creatively, here are a few easy ideas that you can try.
Decorate gifts with natural materials
Natural materials look beautiful on a neutral wrapping paper. No matter if you use colourful leaves, fir branches, dried flowers or even kitchen herbs – your gift will not only look really nice, but also be sustainable. When you go on walks, it is worthwhile to keep your eyes open for materials that you can use as a decoration for your presents.
Decorate gifts with design paper and lettering
Single-colour wrapping paper is the perfect canvas if you want to decorate your gifts even more. We have an easy-to-use practical cut-out sheet that will give a more festive feeling to your gift wrapping. You don’t have to go out and buy expensive design paper. The cut-out sheet has practical templates that you can print on coloured or transparent paper. Create your own design paper yourself in no time.
You can decorate your gifts with cut-out shapes or make small gift tags from the lettering design. Play around with your ideas and let your creativity run wild.
How to decorate wrapping paper with the stylish ‘pleated look’
This cool ‘pleated look’ is very easy to make and looks great. You can decorate it with small ornaments or fir branches that are fitting for Christmas, or simply insert dried flowers into the little tabs. Either way, it will be loved by everyone.
- Use enough wrapping paper or kraft paper to cover your gift completely. On the long side, cut your paper more generously so that it is at least two hand’s widths wider than the gift.
- Place the paper face down and with the short side towards you.
- Fold the lower edge up by approximately two centimetres. Repeat this process as often as you like to create the pleats in the wrapping paper.
- Now turn the paper over and unfold your folds. This should create an ‘accordion pattern’ on the paper.
- Place your fingers on the top fold and bend it down a little. Smooth out the fold and repeat the process for each one.
- When you have folded everything and smoothed it out, turn the paper over and tape up your pattern.
- Finally, now you can wrap your present and give it as a gift.
If you want to put something bigger in the fold, make the fold larger by about four to five centimetres.
If you want to put something bigger in the fold, make the fold larger by about four to five centimetres.
Sustainable gift wrapping
As beautiful as wrapping paper and gift ribbons are, after Christmas, they usually end up in the trash. They are merely a disposable product that unnecessarily pollutes our environment. However, there are many other more environmentally conscious and sustainable ways of wrapping presents. We have listed a few ideas for how to wrap presents in an environmentally friendly way.
Ideas: Sustainable gift wrapping
- Collect wrapping paper: If you get a present, try not to damage the wrapping paper, so that you can use it again later.
- Recycle waste paper: Old catalogues, magazines, newspapers and calendars are perfect for wrapping gifts. For larger gifts, simply glue several pages together. This will give your presents a more modern style.
- Don’t throw away the filling material: Packets are often full of filling materials such as packing paper or tissue paper. You can reuse these to wrap presents in an environmentally friendly way.
- Use alternatives: Why does it always have to be paper? Boxes, bags, glasses, scarves or fabric remnants are also great for wrapping gifts in them in an appealing way.
- Avoid using tape: Often you don’t need the adhesive tape at all to keep wrapping paper in place. A nice piece of string or a reused ribbon is often enough to wrap a gift neatly and securely.
You can apply the tips on environmentally conscious packaging to all of our ideas for gift-wrapping. We used recycled wrapping paper for the gifts on the sample photos and then decorated it in a fun way.
You can be more sustainable in all parts of life, not just while wrapping presents. For example, you can shop sustainably, avoid rubbish and pay attention to sustainability on special occasions like Christmas.
You can be more sustainable in all parts of life, not just while wrapping presents. For example, you can shop sustainably, avoid rubbish and pay attention to sustainability on special occasions like Christmas.
Sustainable gift wrapping with Furoshiki
Furoshiki is the Japanese art of stylishly wrapping presents in cloth. This trend is not only beautiful, but also a great way to wrap gifts in an environmentally conscious way. The Furoshiki cloths are square and between 30 and 100 cm long, depending on the size of the gift. With the right knots, you can wrap a present in seconds and give it as a gift with a clear conscience. The idea is that the Furoshiki cloth is reused and gets passed on from person to person.
You can buy Furoshiki cloths in all colours, patterns and shapes. However, you can also upcycle old clothes and turn them into gift wrappings. All you have to do is to cut out a large square in the correct size and hem the edges. Then your Furoshiki cloth is ready.
If you want to wrap a gift in Furoshiki style, you can find instructions for different shapes on the website of the Japanese Ministry of Environment:
http://www.env.go.jp/en/focus/attach/060403-5.html
By the way: Furoshiki is not only useful for wrapping presents. You can also use these practical cloths for other things like shopping bags for example.
Conclusion
Creative gift wrapping is a lot of fun and is sure to put smiles on faces. Don’t be afraid of unusual shapes or round gifts, as there is always a solution for nicely wrapping them. At the same time, pay attention to the environment and use sustainable materials or alternatives such as Furoshiki. You can give your gifts to your loved ones with a clear conscience.
