Do you love the look of gorgeously wrapped gifts, but struggle to make yours as lovely? I have a few tips I can share on how to polish your wrapping skills.
I am a big fan of wrapping presents. My mom has this huge, glossy black military "suitcase" that holds all of her wrapping paper and accoutrements and I always loved pulling it out for Christmastime to wrap presents. I don't recall being taught how to wrap presents, but I'm sure my mom is to thank for my wrapping skills. With the holiday season around the corner as well as some big news from beve, I wanted to share some tips on how to wrap a present prettily and efficiently.
How to quickly and easily gauge how much paper you'll need:
LONG SIDE: Referencing the photo below, cut paper a bit longer than two times the gift's girth (the length AND width of the gift). A simple way to do this is to line up the gift/box at the edge of the wrap, then flip the gift over while keeping a corner on the gift wrap, flip again and again and again (ex. long side, short side, long side, short side). Be sure to add an inch or two to this measurement to allow for ideal alignment of pattern, if applicable, and folding over raw edges.
SHORT SIDE: To get the appropriate paper width, cut the gift wrap wide enough to accommodate the width of the gift and an extra inch or so if you'd like to have the flap wrap to the back of the gift. Otherwise, you can leave off the extra amount and have the seam on the edge; be sure the amount left is at least three quarters of the gift's width. I prefer wrapping to the back if it’s a thin gift like this example.
And how to wrap a gift beautifully...
It's really surprising how much of a difference folding in the raw edges, trimming bulk and creasing edges can make!
I'll follow up on gift wrapping with How To's on creating pom poms and tying pretty bows so you can put that final touch on your gift. A well-placed store-bought bow works fine too!
And now for some exciting news! The gift images at the top and bottom of this post are of beve's own gift wrapping paper! We will be launching our new goodies very soon. They are great quality, fun designs (of course!) and are in sheets (20x29"), allowing you to mix and match patterns and still get about 6 small gifts per sheet. Be sure to check back to scoop some up for the upcoming holiday season!
