A Guide to Unique Gift Wrapping Ideas for the Holidays
Wrapping holiday gifts is bliss for most of us. After all the hassle of choosing the right gift for friends and family, you’re now finally at the latter part of the gift-giving process—the gift wrapping.
While there are gift-wrapping shops available to do all the wrapping work for you, there are others that are one for DIYs. Nonetheless, having perfectly wrapped presents always adds a familiar excitement to celebrating Christmas.
If you want to steer away from common gift wrapping ideas, we will guide you through some of the surprisingly unique and inexpensive gift-wrapping techniques you can enjoy doing with ease.
Furoshiki
An impressive gift-wrapping technique you can do for your gifts is Furoshiki. This traditional practice originated from Japan during the Nara period and is known to use a piece of cloth to wrap or transport gifts and other goods.
To do furoshiki, all you need is a piece of square cloth. Common cloth sizes are 45 x 45 cm (17 x 17 in) and 70 x 70 cm (28 x 28 in). It is best to use a thick cloth with a reversible pattern.
What’s good with furoshiki is you can add other ornaments and accessories to make your wrapped gifts more lovely.
Origami Gift Wrapping
Take gift wrapping up a notch with some creative origami-style wrapping that will not only make your gifts look refined but also special. This wrapping technique only requires a crisp sheet of wrapping paper, double-sided tape, and scissors.
Japanese Gift Wrapping
For those who don’t like seeing bits of tape on their gifts, the Japanese-style of gift wrapping is a fun technique that requires little to no tape at all.
Compared to the usual gift-wrap method, this technique involves pulling and folding on each side of the gift which is why it is also known as the method of wrapping gifts diagonally.
Aside from using less tape, another good thing about this wrapping technique is it works with any kind of wrapping paper. You also don’t have to worry about the size of the wrapping paper you should use because the folding method will hide all the excess paper nicely.
Hand-Lettered Wrapping Paper
If you have no time to buy holiday wrapping paper, hand-lettered wrapping paper is another pretty simple yet appealing wrapping technique to try. The things you need for this project are brown kraft paper and brush pens.
Depending on your preference, you can do the letterings straight or diagonally across the kraft paper. Add some embellishments like glitter pens or sequins to give the hand-lettered wrapping paper a bit of shimmer.
DIY Gift Bag
Having difficulty in wrapping oddly-shaped gifts? Gift bags are made just for that! While there are gift bags readily available in gift shops, you can always make one at home especially if you are a DIY junkie.
The materials you need to make your own gift bag are wrapping papers of your choice, scissors, and some tape or glue. Before cutting your wrapping paper, make sure to measure first your gift’s size to the paper. You can also do a variety of sizes and styles for the gift bag.
Burlap Bag
Using a burlap bag for gifts is an aesthetic alternative to wrapping papers. It is usually available in gift shops and craft stores and comes in different sizes. You can just customize burlap bags with painted patterns like snowflakes and Christmas trees or ornaments such as ribbons and colorful strings.
To add some DIY touch, you can make your own burlap bag using burlap fabric or any similar kind of fabric.
Sources: Invaluable, The Happy Ever Crafter, Better Homes & Gardens, The Oprah Magazine, Good Housekeeping
