Good wrapping is not about spending more. The presents people remember are wrapped in plain paper with one thoughtful detail. Here are ideas that work with what you already have, a method for neat corners, answers for awkward shapes, and videos to follow when words are not enough.
Start with brown paper
A roll of brown kraft paper is cheap, strong and recyclable, and it suits every person and every colour of ribbon. Dress it up with one of these:
- Red and white baker's twine wound round three or four times.
- A sprig of rosemary, bay, olive or pōhutukawa leaves tucked under the string.
- A dried orange slice or a cinnamon stick tied on top.
- Potato stamps: cut a star or a tree into half a potato, dip in white paint and let the children print the paper the day before.
- White pen drawings: snowflakes, the person's name in big letters, a row of stockings.
- A paper doily or a strip of lace under the ribbon.
Wrap with fabric
The Japanese art of furoshiki wraps a present in a square of cloth with knots and no tape. A scarf, a tea towel, a pillowcase or a square cut from an old sheet all work, and the wrapping is part of the gift. It is the best answer for bottles, books and soft parcels.
Paper you already own
- Children's paintings from the year. Grandparents will keep the paper.
- Old maps, sheet music and pages from damaged picture books, all easy to find in op shops.
- Newspaper, tied with a red ribbon.
- Last year's Christmas cards, cut into gift tags with a hole punched in the corner.
Skip foil and glitter papers. They cannot go in the recycling. The scrunch test tells you: if paper stays in a ball when you scrunch it, it can be recycled.
How to wrap a box with neat corners
Cut the paper so it wraps round the box with a few centimetres of overlap, and so each end comes about two thirds of the way up the side. Tape the long seam underneath. At each end, push the top flap down, crease the two sides in to make triangles, and fold the bottom point up. Run your fingers along every edge to sharpen the creases. Double-sided tape hides all the joins.
Awkward shapes
- Bottles: roll in tissue and twist the top like a cracker, or use a fabric wrap.
- Soft toys and clothes: put them in a box, or make a paper bag by folding and taping a sheet of wrapping paper.
- Balls: stand the ball on a square of cellophane or cloth, gather it at the top and tie.
- Very large presents: a clean sheet and a wide ribbon, or one huge bow and a blindfold.
- Lots of small things: a decorated jar or a shoebox covered in paper.
Tags, toppers and making it personal
Wrap each person's presents in their own paper or ribbon colour and nobody needs a tag at all. Small children love finding "theirs" under the tree. For tags, cut shapes from card, or print the free tags in our Christmas decoration kit. Write something more than a name: "For the best helper", "Open this one first".
Videos to follow
Wrapping is easier to copy than to read. These searches bring up clear step-by-step videos:
- How to wrap a present neatly
- Furoshiki fabric gift wrapping
- Wrapping awkward shaped gifts
- How to tie a perfect bow
- Brown paper gift wrapping ideas
We also pin Christmas videos we like on our [home page](/).
Set up a wrapping station
Put paper, scissors, tape, twine, tags and a pen in one box or basket and keep it out of sight. Wrap a few presents each evening in the last two weeks instead of all of them at midnight on Christmas Eve. Put on something from our Christmas comfort watch list and it becomes a pleasant hour.
In Whangārei, a workshop called Crafting a Zero Waste Christmas teaches reusable and compostable wrapping, and volunteers wrap presents at the Christmas pop-up in the city centre in December. Both are in our Whangārei Christmas events guide.
Hide them well
Wrapped presents under the tree three weeks early will be shaken, squeezed and guessed. Put out a few decoys and keep the best ones hidden until the children are asleep on Christmas Eve.
The present with no wrapping at all
Some of the best gifts cannot be wrapped. A phone call from Santa arrives when the phone rings, and the only thing to hide is your smile.