DIY: CHRISTMAS WRAPPING

I love Christmas more than is probably healthy for a 20 year old, and preparations usually start at some point in October (even with restraint). I always seem to be stuck with the dilemma of either tacky and overbearing wrapping paper or paying loads for a tiny bit of the cute stuff, so I thought I’d have a go at sorting some myself this year. As well as being cheaper, you can suit it better to the person who’s receiving the gift and it shows that you’ve put an extra bit of thought and care in to the process. The ones I’ve tried use things that I already had lying around the house and a cheap roll of parcel paper, and I managed to do them on my bedroom floor in pyjamas after a super busy weekend, so there’s hope for us all.

 The first takes advantage of the life lesson learnt in primary school; folding paper and cutting bits out of it. As well as using layers like this, I’m sure it’d look nice with different colours introduced. Red, gold or black would all work well with the parcel paper. The design could be changed too, maybe using a string of little ginger bread men or Christmas trees?

This one is just plain paper and a fancy pen. I had one of those silver markers, but things like Christmas trees in green glitter pens could be sweet too.
 

This last one has been done by sewing the design directly on to the paper. Admittedly, it would be tons better if I’d used a sewing machine, but mine is at home while I’m at uni so I’m quite limited. The parcel paper doesn’t tear too easily though, and it’s thick enough to handle a bit roughly when needed so the lack of sewing machine isn’t too much of an issue. My biggest tip would be to cellotape the ends and any loose bits underneath to make sure that they don’t catch or pull through the holes in the paper.

 

I’ve just used a snowflake in each so that you can see the technique clearly, but obviously they’re each open to a load of different ideas. I like them because they’re so versatile and easy, so there’s plenty of basis to build on. If you’re giving a few different things to one person, you could use variations on each gift so that they still have a theme but work together. Adding complimentary gift tags could also improve these. If nothing else, these definitely seem like they’d be useful when you realise you’ve run out of paper on the 24^th.

BY OLIVIA