My husband and I take pride in wrapping Christmas presents because we feel that presentation has a big impact on the overall success of a gift. Wrapping a Christmas gift is a lot different than wrapping a Christmas gift well. You have to go through a certain process to ensure everything looks its best. If you want to have some great looking gifts this year, the guide below will explain a few ways you could potentially do that. Here is my simple and effective guide for wrapping great looking Christmas presents.
Using Decorative Boxes
If you want to go the easy way, you can wrap your presents with pre-decorated boxes. These look great on their own, and all you have to do to them is add a little ribbon. My husband and I did that this year, and we didn’t have any issues with the way things turned out. You can see that for yourself in the picture on this page because that picture shows some of our actual Christmas gifts. You can buy packs of Christmas boxes relatively affordably, so just take a look around and see what your options are.
Wrapping Un-Decorated Boxes
If you decide to go for a more traditional approach, you can use wrapping paper on top of a regular box instead of buying a decorative one. Try to get the wrapping paper with the grid lines on the back, and avoid anything with too much sheen. A lot of people are drawn to metallic paper because it looks pretty on the roll, but that actually shows flaws really easily. If you accidentally pinch the paper while you’re wrapping, you won’t be able to get rid of the wrinkle. This can destroy the look of you package if you’re not careful.
With the wrapping paper in place, figure out if there is a certain portion of the paper you want to show up on the front of the box. If the paper has a large snowman on it, you would probably want to position the paper so that the snowman’s head is on the front somehow. Plan all of that out, and then maneuver the paper so that you have the right setup. Make a mark on the back of the paper about where you want the gift to set so you can plan out the rest of it.
Try to cut the paper so that the seam you create is along an edge. If you start the wrapping on that edge, then all you have to do is bring the paper around and mark where you want to cut it. Use the grid lines on the back to ensure you get a straight cut from the start. Then tape the first end all the way down and wrap the gift as flat as you can. Tape the second edge down, leaving no place without tape. You should use gift wrap tape to do this because it won’t show up easily.
When you get the chance to move on to the sides, start by folding the left and right side in. Tape those down, and then flatten the paper so that you create a nice, folded flap that looks like a trapezoid. Do this for the top and the bottom. Cut the flaps so that they barely cover each other, and then you can fold them in. Tape them down as much as possible without making the gift look obnoxious.
Finishing the Boxes
When you find the boxes you like, get some matching tissue paper, ribbon, and name tags. Wrap whatever is inside the box in the tissue paper, and then you can use ribbons and bows to enhance the box on the outside. You don’t have to spend all of your Walmart scholarship on gift wrap, but it can’t hurt to spend a little extra to make the gifts look good. You’ll be a lot happier with them in the end.