Gift Wrapping Expert Gives Top Tips Ahead of The Christmas Season

With the festive season just around the corner, renowned gift-wrapping expert, Jo Clydesdale has collaborated with Evri to answer some of our most asked gift wrapping questions.

Annual searches for ‘how to wrap a present’ increase by an average of 337% every December, but with these helpful tips, Jo will have you wrapping like a pro.

How do you wrap oddly shaped presents?

Not all gifts come in the perfectly shaped box, leaving many of us stumped when it comes to wrapping them with children’s toys often the most difficult to wrap according to Jo.

To make life easier, she says, “a great way to wrap odd shapes, such as bottles or tubes of sweets, is with tissue and cellophane, gathering the tissue together making upward pleats and tying with a ribbon.”

She also says larger gifts can be challenging, adding “depending on the size, this normally means I tape multiple sheets of paper together for it to fit the size of the gift.”

What is the fastest gift wrapping method?

Preparation is key, according to Jo and she says “cutting your paper to the correct size at the start makes wrapping less of a hassle and saves you fiddling half way through cutting around edges.”.

But if time is really scarce, she says a simple gift bag is the way forward.

What can I use instead of gift wrapping?

For a lower budget and more eco-friendly option, Jo suggests using old newspapers and string saying it’s a simple yet effective alternative.

As another alternative, she says “baskets have been very popular.” To make your basket presentable she suggests using “shredded paper to place the gift on and a ribbon to finish it off.”.

She also says “charity shops are a great place to find these baskets at a reasonable price”.

What are creative ways to wrap a present?

Jo likes to jazz things up by using the ‘Japanese Pleating Method’, explaining, “this consists of folding the paper over itself a few times, unravelling it and then folding it back on itself.”

She also suggests adding fun, creative accessories, suggesting “bells, feathers, cinnamon sticks, tinsel from the tree and different types of ribbon such a lace or wired ribbon.”

If you’re looking to send your wrapped present in the post, then experts at leading courier service, Evri, have also given their top tips for packaging a parcel to ensure it’s nice and secure before posting.

Find a suitable box

Ideally, you don’t want excess space in your parcel for the contents to move around. Keeping it as compact as possible will help it travel better, say experts at Evri.

Sturdiness is also important as you need it to be structurally sound for transit.

Ros Hunt, Director of E-Commerce from Evri adds, “Waterproof mailing bags are the best for soft material items, such as clothes, but never use a bin bag as they tear easily and are not strong enough to protect your parcel.”

Pack the empty space

Ros says, “To minimise impact during the transit, it is advised to add additional packaging around your gifts. You can use recycled materials, such as scrunched up newspaper, old sheets or cardboard or of course, bubble wrap or polystyrene are fine too.

Put your address inside

A tip that many people don’t know is to put the address of the person you are sending to, as well as your own address and details on a piece of paper inside your parcel before sealing it up and sending.

“This is so couriers can still find out where your gift needs to go should the address label come off or get damaged in transit.”, explains Ros.

Secure any loose edges

Ros explains it’s really important to secure the edges of your parcel.

“Tape down anything that sticks out, such as cardboard flaps on the top and bottom of your parcel or bits of the mailbag that are sticking out.””It must be flattened to help the parcel prevent getting stuck on the conveyor belts and causing damage.” she concludes.