Wrapping Presents

I feel your pain I hate wrapping presents !! Usually I take my presents to my mum and get her to wrap them but I live too far away for that to be convenient now !! So instead of just buying loads of gift bags I’m going to make an effort to try to wrap presents again. I‘m terrible but the only way better is to do. I was speaking to a colleague who loves wrapping presents and once applied to be a gift wrapper she liked it so much. 

My wrapping is functional.

But if you want elegance, Japan does it best I think. But as origami is Japanese I suppose they have and advantage/obligation.

I spent ages looking at how one gift was wrapped, more interesting than the gift. I wanted to copy it, but forgot how when I next had something to wrap.

I think wrapping is more a function of how much time, preparation and thoughtfulness you want to put into it. For something that may be ripped off and thrown in the bin then it is mostly not much.

What my mum tends to do is put any difficult presents in boxes so they are easier to wrap. If not then she will put in little bags like she did with my make up for my birthday. She is very good and neat when it comes to wrapping presents though, the ironic thing is that she spends time and effort wrapping up presents and then the paper is ripped of in less than 5 seconds lol! She also tends to wrap the presents in a couple of layers of paper and when she’s wrapped and tapped, she gets the scissors and neatens up the ends where the paper has been cut. 

fanrh fnarh, very funny you two.

Bread sauxe would last long enough to get wrapped. I did once wrap a couple of raw potatoes to go with the spud guns I'd bought as silly presents.

I've not yet dared to try using a glue gun.

I used to think my older brother got his gifts professionally wrapped till I found out it was just him! They look amazing, he even hides the tape lines, and he even used to make little tabs when the kids were small to make it easier for them to open. 

This despite him being the programmer and me the artist, mine are a rough mess I'm just glad get covered at all. (Though I managed to improve my technique by copying his.)

Iain said:

TheCatWoman said:

at least I can do a good roast potato and sublime bread sauce!

Handy hint and tip - don't try to wrap this as it will end in tears

Now I have this image in my head of TheCatWoman trying to wrap up a saucy mess and then getting very angry and throwing it across the room, followed by the scissors.

TheCatWoman said:

How do they get ribbon to stay put and not come undone? How do they get bows and things to stick to the present it put on and not come off

I recently found the joys of a hot glue gun that gives a little dollop of melted glue from a pistol shaped applicator - it solves all the above problems nicely even if it takes the odd third degree burn to do it.

I watched a bunch of YouTube videos a few years ago to learn how to wrap presents effectively - it takes a little planning ahead, having the tape cut in advance and visualising where the folds and cuts will be but there is no rocket science thankfully. 

A good tip is to try with a sheet of newspaper the first time to get a bit of practice before going in all guns blazing with the real wrapping paper. Secure the paper before going onto the ribbon and lastly the labels (all pre-cut, pre-written etc) and if glue isn't an option then just rolling a bit of sticky tape around your finger (sticky side facing out) gives a nice little double sided bit of tape you can control by sticking a smaller finger through the loop while positioning it.

TheCatWoman said:

at least I can do a good roast potato and sublime bread sauce!

Handy hint and tip - don't try to wrap this as it will end in tears...