Tips For Hassle-Free Gift Wrapping

Gift wrapping is seriously a work of art. Who doesn’t love a beautifully-wrapped gift that is color coordinated with crisp folds and perfect bows? We all spend a lot of time hunting for great gifts, and each one deserves to be wrapped in beautiful packaging with tender loving care. The key to wrapping gifts like the pros and avoiding a few headaches is to have all your supplies organized in one place. Create a Gift Wrapping Supply Box to transform the gifts under your tree into masterpieces!

In the past, I have always just grabbed a roll of festive Christmas paper and covered everything in it. But what do you do with all that leftover paper? Where do you store all those leftover rolls when you live in a small place? We don’t have a lot of storage space, so I decided to simplify my wrapping this year by creating a Gift Wrapping Box that holds the basic supplies I need to wrap gifts for EVERY occasion, not just Christmas.

By taking some time to make a wrapping game plan and to purge my stockpile of unnecessary supplies, I have condensed everything into two boxes. This not only saves space, but actually makes it a lot easier to wrap up masterpieces because everything I need is stored in my box. That means I can spend less time gathering supplies, and more time making gifts look their very best. Here are the things I recommend you gather to make your very own Gift Wrapping Box.

1) Shoe box or other container ~ I use a shoe box to store my smaller wrapping supplies and a larger plastic tote to store gift bags and tissue paper. The tote sits high up on my closet shelf since I don’t use it too often. I keep one roll of wrapping paper under our bed. The shoe box holds everything else I need and I stack it with a couple other boxes on a shelf right out in the open. It looks pretty, but it also conveniently holds all the essentials needed to wrap up a gift in a jiffy.

2) Basic wrapping paper & gift bags ~ To cut down on storage space and simplify things, get rid of all those rolls of tacky reindeer and snowman paper. Come on, I know you have a few stashed away. If you have the luxury of too much closet space, then go ahead and keep them. But for me, storing a couple rolls of Christmas-specific paper is not practical. So now I have just one roll of versatile brown paper. It provides a simple base that I can accessorize to fit any occasion.

I keep gift bags in a plastic tote. I would never buy a gift bag, but I do reuse some of the nice ones we receive with gifts. I don’t keep very many bags that are specific to one occasion. Trust me, there is no reason you need 50 gift bags in your stash. Just keep the best ones in a variety of colors and sizes. I got rid of some of my stash and I can’t say I have missed them since they were just collecting dust in the closet.

3) Colorful tissue paper ~ Tissue paper is your friend. It can add a pop of color to your gifts. It is both practical and pretty. You can use it to add some padding to fragile gifts. You can also fill your gift bags with it. And you can use it to spice up your wrapped packages, giving them a little personality and a creative touch.

4) Ribbon ~ Gifts look more polished with some ribbon wrapped around them or with a big bow on top. My box holds a variety of ribbon and string. Ha, “brown paper packages tied up with string” reminds me of The Sound Of Music. Love that movie!

5) Stamps & Ink ~ Since you are using plain paper, you could stock your box with a few stamps for different occasions. Add a little “Merry Christmas” next to a bow, or go all out and stamp snowflakes everywhere for a custom wrapping paper. You can find cheap stamps at any hobby store, just pick up a few along with ink in a couple colors that coordinate with your wrapping paper.

6) Gift tags ~ You will want to stock your box with some gift tags to add onto your wrapped packages. I decided to get creative by cutting my own out of scraps of paper. I had a few punches on hand to make some pretty corners. And I embossed some snowflake and Christmas ones so I was ready for the holidays. If you’re feeling crafty, go ahead and make your own. Otherwise, you can find tons of cute ones at the store. Or you can always skip the tags in lieu of attaching greeting cards from your Snail Mail Box or by just writing the To and From directly onto the wrapping paper.

7) Scissors, tape & writing utensils ~ Your Gift Wrapping Box will definitely save you time if you store these key tools right inside it. No more wasted time gathering these things from the office or your craft corner. And no more wasted time in search of the scissors (seems to be a constant problem no matter how many scissors you own). With all the tools on hand, wrapping up your gifts will be done in a flash.

There you have it! Now go gather your supplies and start assembling a Gift Wrapping Box of your own so you can wrap all those gifts up into masterpieces just in time for the holidays.

How do you store your wrapping supplies? What are your gift wrapping tips? Let me know in the comments below! Also take a look at my tips for making a Snail Mail Box that will make sending thoughtful snail mail a breeze.