Thread: Wrapping??

Sorry, I can't offer any help - all my presents are wrapped like a bag of chips!
(Appologies to everyone outside the UK as you wont know what I mean!)

well i have had some nice ideas from this thread i guess it depends which onei feel up to on Thursday night, as i am doing all of my Xmas shopping on Thursday night in lakeside (UK Shopping centre) Should be good fun.

If it's anything like late Xmas shopping in North America, by "fun" you mean "a murderous rampage through a herd of irritated cattle confined in tight quarters"

oh hell yeah i love a tight squeeze whilst buying the last minute stocking fillers

Hey, I'm from the US and I know you mean in Newspaper! I, too, have wrapped presents in this before. Most of the presents I get for others are either wrapped in Fedex boxes these days, but when I am home, I have to admit I do wrap a pretty mean present. So here's my guide to wrapping presents. For oddly-shaped presents, you can still wrap them this way, you simply have to pick the longest axis of the gift to measure and wrap around, and give yourself lots of extra paper. We'll assume in this case that you are wrapping a shoebox, however.

Step 1, Materials: Wrapping paper, scissors, tape. That's it.

Step 2, Measuring: Tape the end of your wrapping paper to the bottom of the shoebox, aligning the edge of the paper with the long edge of the shoebox. After the taping, wrap the paper around the shoebox until it overlaps the tape by about 2". Make a small snip in the side of the paper to mark this spot, unroll the sheet, and cut it straight across.

Step 3: Fold about 3/4" across the part of the paper you just cut. Making this fold perfectly straight will mask your uneven, kindergarten-level scissor skills.

Step 4: Wrap the paper around the box again like you did when you were measuring it. Tape it to the bottom of the box. If you can still see box due to inept measuring skills, you can patch over the bottom at the end, and people usually won't notice. Or, you can start over. Whichever works for you.

Step 5: You now have a squarish tube of paper containing a shoebox. The shoebox should still be upside-down. Looking at your tube, it has a floor, two walls, and a roof with a split in it where the paper meets itself. Following? I hope so. Grab the floor and pull it taut. Now, make your hand into a knife hand, like you are about to do an Austin Powers judo chop. Bring that hand towards one of the walls from the outside, and push the wall in until it touches the end of the shoebox. Keep tucking the wall in until you have a nice triangular crease in both the top and bottom of the once-wall. Repeat step 5 for the opposite wall.

Step 6: You should now be looking at a sliver of shoebox, obstructed by the remains of your walls. The ceiling and floor are now triangles. Fold the point of said triangles over about 1/4" towards the shoebox.

Step 7: Tape the blunted triangle tips to the end of the shoebox.

Step 8: Repeat for other side.

Step 9 (optional): Add bow and tag.

Hope that helps...and if it doesn't, I wouldn't consider it cheating to just use a professional gift wrap service, or those little gift bags an earlier poster mentioned.

I've never really had a gift that I couldn't fit into a box of some kind. Most huge things arrive in boxes, except maybe for cars and livestock, which probably should not be wrapped.

Edit: Your friend and mine, the comma, decided he wanted to join a sentence which did not deserve him.

thanks thats more like it an idiot proof on how to make me look the bees knees at Xmas, now the bow i am guessing it is alot like tying my show laces, err wait a cotton picking minute i have zips and velcro

P.S i think Cotton Picking minute is from some film any ideas?

You can get bows pre-tied at the store, but if that is no good, you can also get ribbed ribbons and curl them. Tie a pair of them in a cross over the box, and you'll be left with 4 loose ends from the knots. Lay a loose end over the blade of a dull scissor, put your thumb on top of the ribbon, and pull away as fast as you can without tearing the ribbon...it'll curl right up.

Aluminum foil is form fitting and shiny! You can get away without using any tape at all too.

That is actually a great idea! Especially if you topped with a premade gold bow or something else in a metallic color. Of course, people might start to get suspicious if all of your presents are the same color....

Man, I have to stop, I'm starting to sound like Martha Stewart or something :/ I don't really like getting presents but I sure like giving them, it's worth it just for the faces they make.

Originally Posted by TomlinAS

That is actually a great idea! Especially if you topped with a premade gold bow or something else in a metallic color. Of course, people might start to get suspicious if all of your presents are the same color....

Man, I have to stop, I'm starting to sound like Martha Stewart or something :/ I don't really like getting presents but I sure like giving them, it's worth it just for the faces they make.

As long as you're not telling us how to keep our kids' gym-bags fresh by using orange peel and coriander (*), you're in the clear, bubba


(*) Pulling this out of thin air lol