How to Wrap a Present

Christmas is round the corner and it is time to exchange gifts with family and friends. When it comes to purchasing a gift, there are options galore. Shelves in stores are stacked with Christmas gifts for one and all. However, with a long holiday on hand, what if we knew how to wrap a present. It's not just about Christmas, but knowing how to wrap a gift comes in handy as so often we are invited to be a part of joys and celebrations of our friends and family.

The first step of wrapping gifts is to remove the price tag. If it is a price sticker, then it can be peeled off. However, the problem with this method is that the glue of price sticker may take off with it a part of the paper that the gift box is made of (in case the gift is encased in a gift box). Sometimes, some of the glue of the price sticker may also stay behind like an ugly, sticky stain on the gift. For such a situation, hide the price on the sticker with a black marker.

In case, the gift does not come in a box, try to get one. Wrapping a present that comes in a box is much easier than wrapping presents directly as with a box, the folds of the wrapping material are neat.

Select a hard surface to work on. Unfurl the wrapping material (say paper in this case) and spread it on the hard surface. Place the gift in the center of the wrapping paper. Leave enough paper on sides so that ends of the paper that fold over the horizontal surfaces overlap with each other.

For the other two (opposite) sides that cover the vertical surfaces, make sure that the paper is just enough so that it just covers the side (the height) of the box.

Mark straight lines using a ruler and a pen or pencil on the wrapping material leaving as much width along each side as you estimated in the previous step. Now cut wrapping material along the lines drawn.

Place the gift in the center with its straight side facing the wrapping material. Take the edge of the wrapping material on one of the horizontal sides of the gift. Put it neatly over the gift box. Secure the edge of the folded side to the gift box with a small piece of tape.

Take the opposite side of the wrapping material and fold it over the gift box. For the wrapping to have a neat look, it is important that this flap of paper completely overlaps the other flap of wrapping paper that has already been folded over the horizontal surface of the gift in the previous step.

Secure this end with a small piece of tape. This is where taking correct measurements that we talked about in step 3 comes handy.

Start working with one of the vertical sides at a time. Take the paper along one of the longer edges of this side and fold it inward so that there is a wing on each side. Each wing should start from the edge where you just folded the paper, and should end at the edge of the unfolded side of the paper.

Now fold these two wings inwards so that a triangle is formed of the flap of paper left on the other end. You can now either fold the apex of the triangle shaped flap or just stick it as it is, over the side of the box. Now repeat the same step with the other end.

Use a ribbon to make a sweet little bow on the wrapping and stick the card (if you have one) on the wrapped gift. If it's a Christmas present, then you can use paper snowflakes, small bells, candy canes or small Christmas ornaments for decorations.

• Go for gift boxes with self-adhesive tapes. Before that, wrap the present in a gift wrapping tissue.
• One could also consider beautiful boxes covered with handmade paper or made out of recyclable material that look good by themselves. They don't require to be wrapped. Just tie a ribbon and add some decorations to pep up the look.

• Use silk or cloth scarf for wrapping gifts. Put the gift in the center of the scarf. Gather the scarf along its entire length of each side on top of the gift and tie it with a ribbon.
• Consider gift bags to avoid wrapping presents using tape. However, if you are thinking of wrapping a gift in a bag, then the only wrapping required in this case is to wrap it in a gift wrapping tissue. Then, place it in the gift bag.

Many people wonder about how do professionals wrap presents. Well, the key to wrapping perfectly is to ensure that every crease of the wrapping material is neat. Make sure that the edges of the wrapping material is straight and the tape pieces that you use in order to secure the wrapping material are small.

With these instructions and a little bit of practice, you would know how to wrap a gift perfectly. So take some time off and practice how to wrap gifts with the help of these instructions and be ready with Christmas gifts wrapped beautifully with your own hands.