Unique Gift Wrapping ideas - How to wrap a gift box creatively?

Beautifully wrapped gifts are not just fun to receive, but preparing them also adds to the excited anticipation of Christmas Day. The projects in this chapter show that original gift-wrapping ideas don’t have to be a lot of work.

Festive gift wrap with paper bows

Creative gifts with a thoughtful and personal touch of detail are a particular joy to receive; at Christmas the wrapping paper is far more than just packaging.

Really special wrapping ideas don’t have to involve lots of time or money. With just a few small steps and a bit of creativity, you can transform your presents into something so beautiful that no one will want to unwrap them!

You will need:

How to make Festive gift wrap with paper bows?

Step 1: Use a calligraphy pen to transform your handwriting and create a gift wrap design. Write out festive texts, such as poems or lyrics, in generously curved letters on the plain wrapping paper.

Step 2: To make the pretty bow, use the template to cut both sections out of white paper. Dab a bit of glue in the centre of section A and press both ends firmly on top. Then glue this bow centrally on to section B.

Ribbons

These pretty fabric ribbons add a home-made touch to any gift wrap, and they are quick and easy to make yourself from recycled fabric remnants.

We tore fabric into long strips, then dyed it with silk paint to upcycle it into gift wrap ribbon.

You will need:

Thin white cotton fabric
Scissors
Foil or paper to use as underlay
Wide flat paintbrush
Silk paint in blue, pink, and green
Small drinking glass
Iron

How to make pretty fabric ribbons?

Step 1: Rip the cotton fabric into narrow strips. To do this, snip slightly into the material following the direction of the fabric grain, then tear down from this incision. You will get lovely evenly frayed edges.

Step 2: Lay the fabric strips on your underlay and brush with water.

Step 3: Dilute some silk paint with water in a small drinking glass, then brush the wet fabric strip with this so it has an even colour.

Step 4: Leave the fabric strip to dry, then fix the colour with the iron, according to the silk dye packet instructions.

Biscuit Gift Tags

Have you got a horde of kids, great-grandmas, second cousins, and adopted “family” coming for Christmas this year? To avoid any mix-ups when the presents are handed out, the best idea is to attach little name tags to each.

These biscuit tags are easy to bake and can be gobbled up as soon as the presents have been distributed.

You will need:

For the biscuits:
300g (10oz) plain flour
1 sachet of chocolate blancmange
2 tsp baking powder
150g (5½oz) caster sugar
75g (2½oz) ground almonds
Pinch of salt
Pinch of ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp vanilla extract
150g (5½oz) unsalted butter
1 tbsp runny honey
2 eggs, lightly beaten
In addition:
Cookie cutters
Letter stamps
Straw
2 eggs, lightly beaten
200g dark chocolate glaze, from German stores or online
Bain-marie
Thin ribbon

How to makeBiscuit gift tags?

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F/Gas 7). Line a baking tray with baking parchment. In a large bowl, mix the flour, blancmange powder, baking powder, sugar, ground almonds, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and vanilla.

Step 2: Brown the butter in a small saucepan, then let it cool slightly.

Step 3: Now add the butter, honey, and eggs to the bowl of dry ingredients and work everything together until you have a smooth, firm dough. Leave the dough to rest for 15 minutes in the fridge.

Step 4: Dust a work surface with flour and roll the dough out thinly using a rolling pin. Stamp out individual biscuits and use the letter stamp to print names in the biscuits. Make a little hole in the dough at the top of each using a straw.

Step 5: Place the biscuits on the prepared baking tray. Bake for around 10 minutes until they are golden brown, then leave to cool.

Step 6: Finally, melt the chocolate glaze over a bain-marie according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Once it has completely melted, dip the lower half of each biscuit into the chocolate. Let the chocolate coating solidify. You can attach the biscuits to the presents using a little ribbon through the hole.

Envelopes for Christmas post

Wherever your loved ones might be, Christmas is a chance to surprise them with a few handwritten words.

After all, it’s always lovely to get real post, especially in this age of email. This project shows you how to design a special envelope to suit the occasion for your Christmas missive.

You will need:

How to make Envelopes for Christmas post?

Step 1: First stick an address label on a coloured envelope in the position where the address will go later.

Step 2: Use a glue stick to mark round the label, applying the glue evenly, so the glitter will adhere.

Step 3: Now scatter some glitter on to the sticky surface, spreading it with your finger and pressing slightly. Shake the loose glitter off over the sink.

Step 4: Finally, you just need to pull off the address label carefully, to leave a clear, well-defined space in which to address the letter.

If the labels stick on too strongly and won’t come off the envelopes, stick them on to a piece of fabric briefly beforehand. They will pick up little textile fibres which then prevent the label from sticking too firmly.

Rudolph Gift Wrap

Who’s that peeking out at us? Rudolph! The friendly face with the famous red nose will particularly thrill
young kids. This is a fun idea for a craft activity to brighten up the pre-Christmas period, too.

You will need:

Brown wrapping paper
Templates (see below)
Scissors
Black paper
Hole punch
Glue stick
1 red pompom per present, 1–2cm (½–¾in) in diameter
Scalpel or craft knife

How to make Rudolph gift wrap?

Step 1: First wrap up your present in the brown wrapping paper. Copy the antler templates with a colour photocopier and cut them out (or just make them out of brown paper).

Step 2: To make the eyes, punch out a couple of circles from black paper using a hole punch. Stick them on using the glue stick. You could also cut out eyes by hand, or paint them.

Step 3: Below the eyes, stick on the pompom as the nose. Use the scalpel to make a little slit in the gift wrap along the front edge where the antlers should go.

Step 4: Fold over the ends of the antlers by about 1cm (½in), dab a bit of glue on to both sides of the folded-over ends, stick them into the slit in the paper, and press them into place.

Gift Bags

A lovely packaging idea to wrap small presents for colleagues, friends at school, the postman, and all those other lovely people whose Christmas you want to brighten up a little.

You will need:

Scissors
Template (see pp134–135)
Linoleum sheet
Pencil
Linoleum cutters
Acrylic paint
Card
Linoleum ink roller (brayer)
Paper bags

How to make Gift Bags?

Step 1: Cut out the template and transfer the shape on to the linoleum using the pencil. Use the linoleum cutter to carve out the lines which shouldn’t be printed (these are printed black on the template). Take care when using the cutting tool to work away from your body, moving the linoleum rather than the tool, so you don’t cut yourself. Finally, cut out the heart shape itself.

Step 2: Put some acrylic paint on to a piece of card. Roll out the paint with the ink roller until the roller is coated. When the roller is evenly covered with paint, transfer the paint on to the
linoleum heart.

Step 3: As soon as the linoleum has been evenly covered in the paint, print the shape on to a paper bag.

Money crackers

At first sight, giving money might not seem particularly creative, but this wrapping makes each note bespoke.

These DIY Christmas crackers can be individually designed and are a lot prettier than an envelope. You can also fill the crackers with confetti, lucky charms, or home-made mottos for a New Year’s Eve party.

You will need:

Sheets of thick paper, 14 × 6.5cm (5½ × 2½in)
Adhesive tape
Glue stick
1 A4 sheet of white tissue paper per cracker
Bank notes, or other cracker contents
Colourful thread
Scissors

How to make Money crackers?

Step 1: Shape 1 of the thick pieces of paper into a little tube with a diameter of roughly 3cm (1¼in). Fix the tube in place using a piece of tape, then stuff the bank note inside.

Step 2: Spread some glue along one side of this paper tube.

Step 3: Lay the paper tube along a short end of the tissue paper sheet so that it sticks in place. Now roll up the paper tube inside the tissue paper, and glue the edge in place.

Step 4: Tie up the cracker on both sides with the coloured thread. Finally, cut both ends of the cracker so they are the same length.

Gift Voucher Baubles

If you want to give someone a gift voucher, these transparent baubles are a particularly pretty way to present them.

The baubles can be stuffed with a personal message or seasonal quotation, then hung on the tree until the moment that presents are handed out and they give up their secrets.

You will need:

How to make Gift voucher baubles?

Step 1: Cut the paper to an appropriate size for your bauble. Our baubles measure 7.5cm (3in) in diameter, so we cut our gift voucher slips to roughly 8 × 5cm (3 × 2in). Write your message on the paper.

Step 2: Carefully remove the hanging mount from the bauble, roll up the paper with the writing facing outwards, and insert this into the bauble so it can be read through the ornament.