First, make sure that this gift is best wrapped with gift wrap. Gifts for wrapping are usual
rectagular,
cylindrical, or
cubes. They are also smaller than a
three-year old child. If the above does not apply, try a nice bag or use tissue paper with party string (to be discussed later).
Before we wrap, the following supplies are necessary:
- the gift. Please make sure that any personal notes, etc., are written in the gift before you wrap it. Seriously, this is a common mistake.
- Scissors. No Fiskars. We want good old grown up scissors.
- single sided scotch tape. We recommend 3M. A lot of it.
Use a large, flat, and stable surface to wrap your gifts. Table pads might be useful here. Roll out the wrapping paper, picture side down. You might need a magazine or two to hold down either end of the wrapping paper as they usually come in rolls and tend to behave as itemd rolled up for a while do.
Place the gift, top side down, on the wrapping paper. Align it parallel to the edges of the wrap and place it so that the outside end is slightly farther than the width of the gift from the edge of the giftwrap. For example: if the gift is 6 inches wide, place it 9 inches from the edge of the giftwrap.
Fold the outside edge of the wrap over the gift until it covers at least half of the gift. Holding down the fold with a thumb, roll the loose side of the wrap over the gift and approximate how much is needed to cover over half of the gift. Hold this line, remove the gift, and cut at this spot. One could also just measure the width of the gift, multiply by 2.5 and cut. Sometimes checkboard or lined patterns make this task easier.
Move the roll so that only the cut piece of wrap remains. Place the gift in the center of the paper. Bring one side (I usually choose the poorly cut side) over the gift and afix it with a short piece of tape parallel to the edge of the paper. If you're afraid of damaging the gift (i.e a book), don't bother.
Next, bring the other side of the wrap over the gift so that it overlaps with the side we just folded over. Afix this side to the gift (actually, to the giftwrap under it) with a small piece of tape.
The leftover two sides are the tricky part. There is lot of waste on each side. Cut to leave an amount that is at least twice the thickness of the gift (if the gift is really big, this rule does not apply). Save the waste paper for later.
Take your pointer fingers and push in the outer sides of the loose wrap so that you are left with something close to two triangles (one on bottom, one on top). Next, push down the top triangle against the gift. It should now appear to be shorter than the bottom triangle. Fold the bottom triangle over to create a smooth edge. Fold the whole piece over until it reaches the top of the gift or the edge (either is fine). Afix a piece of tape parallel to the edge you just created. It should completely cover the edge.
Ta da! The gift is wrapped.
Remember the waste paper you were supposed to save? Fold it lengthwise to make a small card you can tape to the top of the gift.