That’s a Wrap Make the Worst Holiday Task Easier
Wrap small gifts with ease. The most difficult items to wrap are the tiny ones. Many people cut little bits of wrapping paper and cover them in tape, but anyone who has ever received such a present knows it’s no fun to open. Others spend money to buy small, beautiful gift boxes. But a more straightforward and less expensive route involves a used toilet paper roll. Remove any residue, place the gift inside, then fold the ends of the roll in. Ta-da — you have an instant gift box. You can also wrap small presents like a piece of hard candy. Instead of struggling to fold and tape, fold the paper around the present horizontally, then twist the edges shut. Keep it simple. There’s nothing more frustrating than realizing you cut your wrapping paper too short. Do you throw it out and recut it? Place a strip of paper over the bare spot? Before you go to any desperate measures, turn the gift diagonally and see if the paper is now long enough to cover the entire present. Whether this hack works depends on your gift’s size and shape, but it’s worth a shot before wasting more time and materials. Oddly shaped gifts seem to cause the most strife of all, though. What do you do with wine bottles, stuffed animals, and other non- rectangular items? The internet has you covered with plenty of detailed tutorials, but we offer a different solution: Go with your gut and do your best. Most people don’t expect your gifts to look picture-perfect. And research by SciTechDaily found that intricately wrapped presents create unrealistic expectations. Those who receive an averagely wrapped gift are more likely to be impressed by the contents than those who get one that looks like Martha Stewart herself wrapped it. So, rest assured there’s nothing wrong with a utilitarian job. What’s underneath the wrapping paper matters most.
Some lifestyle blogs and magazines act like it’s normal to make your own hand-stamped wrapping paper or attach pine cones to gifts with ribbon as a decorative flourish. But when it comes to wrapping presents, most of us just want to get it done. So, we’ve compiled some expert tips to make this year’s gift-wrapping a breeze — or at least less of a chore. Use what’s on hand. Before you start wrapping, you should confirm you have all the supplies you need. But unexpectedly running out of paper, tape, or gift boxes has happened to the best of us. You could run to the store to buy more — or get creative. Wrapping paper is the easiest item to substitute. Brown paper bags work very well, whether or not you make them fancier with ribbons or stamps. A unique alternative is the aluminum foil you already have stored in your kitchen. Meanwhile, cereal boxes can be great if you run out of gift boxes. And if you have too little tape, you can use stickers in a pinch. Best of all, you can tell everyone your material reuse was an eco-friendly choice.
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