Hassle-Free Christmas Wrapping

How to turn a tricky chore into festive fun?

Love it or hate it – wrapping presents is a part of the season. Personally, I look forward to it. Setting some time aside to escape the madness of the Christmas rush, and accompanying it with a glass of red wine and some good tunes, always gets me in the festive spirit!

Below are your essentials for drama-free gift-wrapping – plus tips from some superstar wrappers on making awkward-shaped presents look good.

YOU WILL NEED
1. A sharp scissors
2. A heavy tape dispenser
3.?Pretty boxes
4.?Metallic tape
5.?Seasonal stamp
6.?Reams of ribbon

Above: April and the Bear’s polka-dot present wrap

Tips from Katie at Industry

?Wrap small items in lots of bubble wrap until they are less of an odd shape and then wrap that! I always make sure I’m not using too much paper – we use heavy enough brown paper for most of our wrapping, and if there is too much at the ends, it becomes hard to fold and bulky on the sides of the gift. This is also important if wrapping cylindrical items – you don’t need much at the ends, just enough to fold over and cover it.

?We also use a type of tape that has a matt finish to it – it’s really good as you can hardly see it when it is on. We have really lovely fabric ribbons here too – they go very well with brown paper.?

Tips from Siobhan at April and the Bear

?As I’m always saying, I adore wrapping gifts, and Christmas is a great time to really put the extra effort in. When it comes this time of year, I like to keep it quite traditional and tend to wrap my gifts in plain brown kraft paper – upon which I add layers of beautiful fabric ribbons and sweet gift tags like our laser-cut wooden letter tags which are so sweet and reusable!

?For tricky-shaped presents, I would always suggest putting them into a box before wrapping, because it’s NEVER going to look right otherwise and will cause more drama than it’s worth. But most importantly, have fun with it! Wrapping shouldn’t be seen as a chore but as a chance to be creative!?

Still not convinced? Here is our pick of places that do the wrapping for you?

You can now customise the gift wrapping on Makers & Brothers by choosing the colour of ribbon and card, then add your own message. Their ?click and collect service? is also super-handy, whereby you can order online and collect the gift already wrapped from their Shed or Dame Lane pop-up.

Industry have their wrapping station set up for the season, complete with festive twine and the like. They also have a new kids? section in the store that has perfect present ideas!

April and the Bear’s wrapping is bold and simple. With punchy black and white branding on kraft paper, it suits the style of the products perfectly – and will definitely get the receiver excited for when they can finally open it!

For more creative wrapping ideas, check out our?One Present Seven Ways feature in the current issue of Image Interiors & Living, on shelves now!

Sheenagh Green for @Image_Interiors