Christmas is a time for gift giving and for some people, like our design team, the process of wrapping the present is just as gratifying and enjoyable as gifting it to that special someone. If you aren’t one of those “creative” people we have 5 simple, cheap and effective ways to wrap your Christmas gifts this year guaranteed to look so festive your recipients will be second guessing whether to open it at all!
1. CELEBRATE THE SIMPLE THINGS – “Brown paper packages tied up with string”
Plain brown paper somehow shouts “Merry Christmas” and festive in its own way, and there are plenty of things you can add to make it look even more festively fancy – try candy canes, baubles, a sprig of a pine tree or greenery and a memorable photo/polaroid are easily tied onto the package with a simple twine or ribbon.
2. YESTERDAYS NEWS – “What’s Black, White and Red all over?!”
It costs you little to nothing if you already have a newspaper lying around, and it looks craftier than you will probably mean for it to! You can wrap the whole gift in the newspaper or just make the embellishments (bows, flowers or ribbon bands). Run out of newspaper? Improvise with some Christmas carol sheet music, road maps (who needs those when you have Google) or comic book or magazine pages.
3. FOR ART SAKE – “Every artist was first an amateur” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
You don’t need to be an artist to create your very own one of a kind wrapping paper for your gifts. Christmas motifs and symbols are essentially just basic shapes and we can all draw a square (present), triangle (stars) and circle (bauble and a snowman). Get more adventurous with your creations as you gain confidence, add colour with stickers, paint or ink… and if all else fails just turn your scribble into a Christmas tree!
4. FABRIC ORIGAMI – “Have a very GREEN Christmas”
When it comes to those irregularly shaped gifts be inspired by Furoshiki, a traditional Japanese method of folding and tying an object up in fabric. There are many different ways and techniques to fold the fabric depending on the object you are gifting. Furoshiki is much simpler than it appears to be, it’s even quicker than paper wrapping (who needs to be wrangling with the end of the sticky tape) and since the cloth can be reused or form a part of the gift, it is Eco-friendly!!
5. A PRESENT BOTH INSIDE AND OUT – “Who doesn’t want a little something extra”
Forgot to wrap up that last minute “stocking stuffer” gift, easily solved – just embellish your gift with it. Decorate the outside of the wrapping with a keepsake ornament for the tree, or with edible baked goods (bought ones will save you time!) and for the little ones why not something a bit more fun – crayons or a toy car to play with at the kids table on Christmas day.
