If you love design, can you agree with me when I say that gift wrapping is something of an art form — the perfect temporary canvas to play with with any color, shape, and texture that can inspire inspiration for you at that particular moment. Kicker? There’s something scientific to this art of gift wrapping, and in the words of Pablo Picasso, “You have to learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.”
So before you go buy every wrapping paper and ribbon in the store, let’s get back to the basics, shall we? Scroll down for a step-by-step guide to wrapping a gift perfect.
When it comes to gift wrapping, having a spacious flat workspace is extremely helpful. Our new crafting room workbench makes it easy to gather all your supplies and still has plenty of room to roll up a large roll of wrapping paper.
The most important factor in tidy gift wrapping is to start with a precisely cut piece of wrapping paper. This is the hardest part to do (and also the hardest part to explain!) so read carefully.
10 steps to perfect gift wrapping:
first. Open your wrapper face down and place your gift on top of it. If your gift is a rectangle, align the longer sides of the box to be parallel to the end of the roll. Fold the end of the paper over and over the gift until it wraps the entire box. Mark where the terminal comes in contact with the wrapping paper and add 1 inch. This indicates the width of your paper.
2. Cut along the mark from bottom to top. We love using Sugar paper wrapping paper from Target because it has a mesh on the back.
You should now have a piece of wrapping paper that’s wide enough to wrap your entire gift, but too long.
3. Make sure the box is still intact. Then, fold the top edge of the wrapping paper up to measure half of the side of the box. For example, if your box is 6 inches tall, you want the paper to be about 3.5 inches. Do the same for the bottom edge of the box and cut.
4. You should now have a perfectly sized piece of wrapping paper to wrap your gift box. From left to right, the paper should wrap the entire width of the box. From top to bottom, the paper should be on the top half of the box.
5. Wrap the left and right sides of the paper over the box to meet in the center. Pull the taught sheet of paper and secure in place with tape.
6. At the top open end, fold the paper over the corner as shown and fold again. Tape this down the box for good measure.
7. Again, fold the paper as shown in the picture.
8. Fold both ends in as shown. Fold the bottom cover up and fold in place, then tape it in place.
9. Repeat at the opposite end. Then take a step back to marvel at your picture-perfect gift wrapping!
ten. Add a ribbon or bow of your choice.
Everything you need to finish off the perfect gift
Let’s start wrapping gifts! I’ve collected all the best scissors, ribbons, paper, tissues, bows and more to help you wrap a gift that looks good under any tree.
