To me, Christmas shopping is not the dreaded occasion that many believe it to be. I find true joy in lingering around stores until I find the absolute perfect gift, whether it's a candle with one of their favorite scents or a scarf I saw them once pin on Pinterest. Wrapping, however, is entirely different thing. Wrapping feels like this daunting mountain you have to climb before you reach the finish line.....especially today, when it's really down to the wire. You have a stack of gifts you worked painstakingly to procure, and yet they still aren't ready! But it must be done, so today I'm hoping to remove some of the fear from it. Especially maybe for the few men who read this blog? I hear lots of guys say wrapping presents is a woman's skill. Pshhh....read on, for my super simple (idiot proof!) gift wrapping guide.
Start out with all your essentials - 3 or so rolls of wrapping paper, plain boxes, gift tags, a variety of ribbons (I prefer plain ribbon to curling ribbon!), PLENTY of tape, and scissors. If you'd like, some little extras to tie on are always lovely, like these jingle bells. I also know lots of people who like to tie on those $1 glitter ornaments you can find at Target & Walmart, and that's a great addition!
Cut your paper to size. This means trimming off ALL the extra. Fold it around the box in a few places to figure it out. Now, so many of the paper rolls have this grid pattern, which is insanely handy.
Once you're all measured out, wrap the longer ends of the paper around to the bottom of the box, and tape in place.
This is the part most people hate, but it's really easy IF you got the right amount of paper. With your thumbs, fold in the corners of the paper at the corners of the ends to make to triangles on top and bottom. Cross the edges of the paper over one another, and tape the triangles into place.
It's easier to do this with one end of the present done, and you can stand it on its end.
Now, we have to jazz it up!
I really prefer real ribbon to stick on bows - I get that they're easy, but they so often fall off.
So measure your (real) ribbon out, then wrap it from the middle point around the top of the box to the bottom, cross in the middle, and bring it back around the other sides of the box to the top (and um, try to ignore my chipped manicure...)
Tie a knot, then a bow.
And trim the excess of the ends, into diagonal lines. (Cutting ribbon into diagonal lines keeps it from fraying!)
I like to tie my extras onto the center of the bow, so I put a little bunch of jingle bells there, and the gift tag. Then you trim off the excess string from your add-ons and....
voila! The perfect present.
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