You’ve been wrapping presents for all of your adult life. You’ve mastered the neatest folds, and your wrapping size estimates are on point. Now, it’s time to take your gift wrapping to the next level.
As professional gift wrappers will tell you, it’s the little touches that really count.
With these five quick gift wrapping tips, you’ll be more excited to give gifts than receive them. After all, isn’t that what the holidays are all about?
Wrap it Around Twice
Instead of a traditional bow, wrap a decorative cord or ribbon around the wrapped gift twice. Simply wind the ribbon around the gift lengthways, tie a bow, wrap it around the present again, and tie another bow beside the first one a little higher up. If you want to add a unique, personal touch, customized ribbon printing with the recipient’s name works very well with this technique too. For long or narrow gifts, wrapping the ribbon around the gift twice looks incredibly appealing.
Use Chalk Marker Pen
For gift wrap that’s darker, white chalk marker pens can really add that ‘oomph’ to your wrapping because they will add aesthetically-pleasing contrast. Chalk marker pens are perfect for writing personal messages on packages – or even just a simple “to” and “from.”
Chalk marker pens are easy to use because they work just like paint pens. For an extra professional touch, pull up your favorite festive font on your laptop and copy or trace it onto your wrapping paper – but using your regular handwriting is fine, too.
Stack Them Up
Nothing says ‘abundance’ like a stack of wrapped gifts. Wrap two (or more) presents of varying sizes together to fill your recipient with childlike glee – stack the largest at the bottom, place the others on top, and wrap the entire package in a ribbon.
Be sure to leave enough ribbon length for long, cascading ribbon tails. Ribbons with wire edges work best because you can add beautiful, curly waves with a pair of scissors.
Layer Your Ribbons
To make your gift scream ‘luxury,’ layer a thin ribbon over a thicker ribbon of a contrasting color. To match the color palette of your gift wrap, try to find ribbons of two colors that are already present in the wrapping paper.
A color scheme that really works is black wrapping paper wrapped in a thick gold ribbon, with a thinner silver ribbon on top. If you want to add some texture, use mesh ribbon.
Add a Treat
A great way to make a gift extra special is to attach a sweet treat. This works particularly well for children, but adults will probably appreciate it.
Simply tie a sweet or candy bar on top of the gift with some ribbon, or you can ramp up the ‘wow’ factor by buying a miniature Christmas stocking and tucking the treat inside. However, a word of caution is to be mindful of foods that are unsafe for dogs to eat – make sure the gift is always out of their reach.