How to Wrap Gifts that Beg to be Torn Into

Recently a friend asked how I got such tight corners and clean lines when wrapping presents. Well, surely I didn’t intend for this to be a secret. So today, I’m sharing my tricks for wrapping presents that look like they were done by Santa’s elves themsleves.

How to Wrap Gifts that Beg to be Torn Into

Step-by-Step Instructions for Wrapping Gifts:

  1. Gather all of your materials (wrapping paper, gift wrap tape, scissors, topper and of course, the gift). Make sure your wrapping paper is rolled out on a flat surface. This is ESSENTIAL.

  2. Avoid wasting a ton of paper, by figuring out the best way to situate your gift (sometimes that means you’ll lay it horizontally and sometimes vertically). Wrap the paper around your gift, giving yourself about 2” of overlap for the long side of your box, and about 1” of extra paper on each of the shorter sides.

How to Wrap Gifts that Beg to be Torn Into

3. From there, cut your paper. In order to get really crisp lines, fold about 3/4” of the paper )on the long edge) and crease so that the visible portion is straight and crisp.

4. Fold in the paper as tight as possible and tape in two to three spots.

5. Now onto the sides. These can be tricky little buggers, but crisp edges can be done! Turn your package toward you (Note: it will still be upside down, since you’ve just finished taping the bottom). Tuck in the sides of the paper until the touch the box, creating a triangle of paper on the top and the bottom. Then crease, crease, crease that paper.

6. From there fold the bottom flap up and then fold the top flap down. Sometimes this will wrap to the underside of the package and sometimes this will end on the side of the box - either way is fine, just make sure the other side of the box matches. Tape on the sides of your top triangle.

7. Repeat steps 5 + 6 on the other side!

8. Top your gift with a fun bow, or gift topper. Around the holidays, you can cut up older Christmas cards to create gift tags. I love making the package as fun as the present inside!

Crisp corners and clean lines make all the difference when wrapping a gift.

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