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Helpful Gift-Wrapping Tips Using Decorative Papers, Personalized Ribbons, Tapes and Other Wrapping Materials

Many of us grew up receiving beautifully-wrapped presents whether it is your birthday, anniversaries, Christmas or just a simple thank you gift. In every household, there’s always this one who has gift wrapping talent. They always make every occasion special. According to Craftsy.com, Giving gifts to someone should not be stressful. Gift giving should be fun for everyone. If you wrap your gifts, it shows that you are giving time, effort and attention to make it truly special. It gives people an idea that they are special. If you are having fun wrapping your gifts, the people receiving it is also going to have fun with it.

 Prepare your workspace

You need to prepare your workplace before you wrap gifts. People have a different preference when working. Some like to work standing, and some like to work sitting, some prefer working with a high top, some like its waist-high. Whatever workplace you prefer or working style you choose, make sure that the surface you are working is clean and organized. You don’t want lotions, food or anything wet gets into your wrapping papers and ribbons.

You need the right tools

If you want a complete workspace, you need to have proper work tools. Make sure you have different sizes of rulers, scissors, wrapping paper with different designs, and of course different kinds of ribbons to decorate your gifts. You can buy different ribbon designs in online shops like FinerRibbon, a customized ribbon shop. You also have to make sure that your scissors are sharp because some decorative papers have glitters or other things that can make your scissors dull. You need your scissors to be very sharp because some ribbons have delicate strands that if you use a blunt scissors to cut them, it will ruin it. You need to cut them clean and nice. You have to sharpen it with kitchen knife sharpener, or you can let a professional do the sharpening. You also need Scotch tapes or glue. You can use double-sided tapes for complicated areas, and gift wrap tapes for a matte finish. Even if you put a tape on the outside of the paper, it virtually disappears because you can’t see the tape markings. You also need embellishments to decorate the outside of your gift. You have to gather everything before you start your project. That way, once your creative juices are flowing, you can work continuously without stopping to get the materials that you need.

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Use medium grade decorative paper

If you use a very thin decorative paper, it will easily tear. It will allow your packaging box corners to poke through. If you use a thick decorative paper, your gift will be very bulky. You need to use medium-grade paper with a little metallic finish to create sharp and nice creases.

Do a practice run

It sounds crazy, but before you do gift wrapping, you need to do a practice run. Find a cheap gift wrap and ribbons to be used for your practice wrap. You can practice where you will put your tapes so that you will have a clean wrap, or practice how to make ribbon decorations. Practice makes perfect. If you are using a specialized paper like hand-painted or hand-stamped decorative papers, you need to do a dry run first using regular papers because a specialized paper is expensive. One wrong cut or fold will ruin the paper. 

Measure the paper that you are using

To get the most out of your wrapping paper, wrap your box to the longest side of your packages facing the cut part of your paper. Before cutting, pull the paper up over to measure the length of the package. You need enough paper on either side so they will overlap a little in the middle. Each side of the box will have a bit longer than the width of your box. If your package is big, use a ruler to make sure that you have enough. It is okay to have an extra inch of paper because you can trim it later.

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Place the package top-down, never put tape on it

When it’s time to wrap the gift, place the package top down on the wrapping paper. Pull one edge of the paper just beyond the side of the box and fold the paper to hide the cut edge or the white part of the paper. People usually tape that into the box, but we advise against that because you want the paper and the ribbon to fall away to reveal what’s inside the gift when the peel the paper off. The next thing you need to do is to rotate the package to the open side and fold the short side of the paper to create a long flap. Repeat that process for the other side. This process keeps the box from sliding around inside your decorative paper. You need to pull the side nearest to you downward and fold the paper closest to your work surface and tape the edge. When you turn the package over, place the ribbon bow on top. Make sure the side flaps are going downwards so that you won’t see the workings of the gift wraps. And lastly, crease the paper’s edges using your thumb and fingers.

(Click here if you want a detailed step-by-step procedure on how to do gift-wrapping.)

 Don’t cut the ribbon until you finished the design

The biggest mistake people make when making a ribbon design is cutting the fabric off in its roll before they even finish the bow. They eyeball the ribbon that they need, cut the ribbon off the roll and hope they have enough. When making a bow, you need to start at the top of your box and give at least twelve inches of extra ribbon, attached to the roll. You need to crisscross the knotting of the bow on top of the package, not below, which is most people do. You need your gift to sit flat and not rocking because of the bump below.

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