I’m going to make a bit of an admission. Ben actually wraps all the Christmas presents, not me. I know, right? I write all these posts about gift wrap when really I don’t even do it myself? In my defence, I have wrapped my fair share of presents over the years (countless magazine photo shoots requiring trees laden with gifts for example), and I am still the boss when it come to how we wrap our gifts at Christmas. The look (paper, ribbon etc) is all down to me, and I do all the finishing details once Ben has finished the manual labour. So I think I’m more than qualified to share my Christmas wrapping ideas and tips with you here.
Back at the end of October I got to spend a whole evening with other bloggers wrapping presents for Great Ormond Street Hospital with Marks & Spencer. M&S provided the gifts and the wrap, and us bloggers got creative with our Christmas wrapping ideas. It was really good fun, definitely put me in the Christmas mood (Christmas tree, check. Mince pies, check. Twinkly candles, check), and felt great to be doing something to support such a fantastic charity. Head over to the M&S website now to read all about our evening and to see videos of the wrapping tips we were shown on the night.
I’ve already started planning my Christmas gift wrap look for this year, and so I thought it would be good to share some of my wrapping ideas, tips and tricks here to help make your wrapping look great, and hopefully a little bit easier. Some basic things that I (ok, Ben) always do are:
- Use decent scissors. Trying to cut wrapping paper with scissors that aren’t up to the task is one of the most frustrating things ever. Sharp blade, sturdy, comfortable handle, etc etc. I’ve read that a rotary blade is even better than scissors, but we’ve always stuck to the traditional method!
- Go for double-sided tape. This is a trick stylists use on photo shoots because gifts look so much better when there’s no visible tape.
- Fold the cut edge under. This is Ben’s special technique. When he wraps the gift, he folds that long edge under about 1cm first so that it leaves the cleanest, straightest line possible.
This week I wrapped some gifts with wrapping paper and accessories from Marks & Spencer. Here are the Christmas wrapping ideas I came up with…
Tissue paper flower
This is an idea I’ve featured in magazine articles before, but haven’t actually tried myself until now. It looks so fab that I think these may well be topping all of my gifts this year (look away now family and friends). Lay six sheets of tissue paper on top of each other in a stack (mine were A4, but smaller would work well too). Concertina fold across the width of the paper until you’ve folded all the paper. Fix in the middle (I used thin florist’s wire but string or thread would be fine). Cut down all the folds on one of the long edges then fan out both sides of the concertina and peel up to form a flower.
Wrapping paper sash
I use this idea frequently as it’s a great way to use up offcuts of wrapping paper, or to incorporate really beautiful, more expensive wrapping paper when you’re on a budget. Just secure a band of your chosen paper around a gift already wrapped in plain paper.
Foliage topper
I’m a big fan of adding greenery to gifts, especially when I’ve used simple wrapping paper and ribbon so I’ve popped a sprig of ivy onto this gift. I often use eucalyptus or sprigs of pine cut from the Christmas tree, too. I love this brown paper from M&S with its white hand-drawn-style illustrations.
Disclosure: This post was written in collaboration with Marks & Spencer but all ideas and opinions are my own.
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