In case you weren’t aware from Starbucks’ annual release of festive red cups, the holidays are sneaking up on us—and fast. For many, this means presents won’t be wrapped until the night before a gathering—or worse, you’ll be that person who just buys a paper bag and throws the gift inside with some red and green tissue paper. DO NOT BE THAT PERSON. That person definitely gets coal for Christmas. Try some of these fun gift wrapping tips instead, ranked from “minimal effort” to “serious gift-wrapping masters only.”
Paper Bag 2.0
Let’s start easy. If you absolutely must use plain brown paper, consider buying Kraft paper because it comes in bulk and can be super cheap. Next, try sprucing the paper up with some festive trimmings. Simple taupe-colored twine can be used to tie Holly leaves, pine needles, or brightly colored name tags to the present. Keeping one color scheme is key for this presentation to work best.
Map It Out
This idea is just as simple as the first one, but might take some extra cash or planning ahead. Paper with fancy vintage maps are sold at any stationary store, but often sold in smaller scrapbooking squares. A clever alternative would be to buy regular maps from places you’ve visited throughout the year. Not only is this cheaper, but way more personal, too. Relationship Pro Tip: Went somewhere special with your S.O. this year? Grab a map from that place and use it for gift wrap around the holidays. Your attention to detail will definitely make them *swoon.*
Sweet Tidings
This nifty gift is definitely the most delicious idea on this list. Pick up a mason jar and choose your favorite hot chocolate recipe. Measure out all the ingredients needed, then pour them one-by-one into the jar. The end result should be mouth-watering layers of cocoa, marshmallows, chocolate chips, and any other yummy fixings like peppermint or cinnamon. Tie a piece of twine or festive ribbon around the lid and you’re good to go.
Color Me Festive
This technique is one of the more tricky on this list, but difficulty can vary based on how you approach it. For example, you can gather all your kid-cousins together at the beginning of the holidays, hand them markers, crayons, and paint, and tell them to go crazy on plain wrapping or Kraft paper. This means zero work for you in the wrapping department (I can’t promise no work in the clean-up process, though) and a gift wrapping job that any family member would adore. On the other hand, you could get creative yourself and try brushing gold paint or gold Sharpie patterns on solid colored paper. Of course any color paint would look fine, but metallics give it an extra high-end flair.
Au Naturel
Remember that “serious gift-wrapping masters only” thing I mentioned? Well, here you go. We can’t beleaf you made it this far, but there’s no going back now! For this fancy packaging, we’ll be using leaves—banana leaves, bamboo leaves, birch bark, and more. These pretty pieces of foliage are large and easy to bend into all kinds of shapes—perfect for that awkward round gift thing that you never know how to go about wrapping. They can be found in a local Asian market or, if you’re feeling adventurous, by taking a quick walk into a nearby forest. Take inspiration from Martha Stewart, but creativity is the most important part here. Just have fun and if the leaves don’t wrap the way you’d like, you can always resort back to idea number one. Happy wrapping!
by Amber Cannale