Q&A for How to Wrap a Present

If you'd like to forego wrapping paper, use a tea towel, scarf, or bandana to offer a beautiful and practical presentation.

After you tie the package with string or ribbon, consider tucking foraged plant foliage under the ribbon, adding a pom pom or or tassel, or a handmade clay tag.

The easy way is to roll it in tissue paper, then twist the ends, candy wrapper style. The more professional way is to roll it in sturdy paper, leaving room on both ends. Cut the loose ends into strips going from the edge of the paper to the item inside. Fold these into the center one by one to make a fan fold, tape, then repeat on the other side.

Usually you can just stuff a few pieces of tissue on top of the gift, maybe with a little sticking out of the bag to look more decorative.

Not really. Method 1 is the standard way to wrap presents, formal or not. Just choose a more formal-looking wrapping paper and maybe skip the ribbon.

You can find many creative gift wrapping ideas online, but the one-size-fits-all is a decorative bag. Make your own if you'd still like to show your craft expertise.

Actually, you can get away with a smaller rectangle of paper with the Japanese approach.

Use a glue stick or school glue to secure the wrapping paper. Make sure to overlap the wrapping paper enough so the glue stays on the paper and does not leak onto the gift. You can also use stickers instead of tape.

You would use quite a large square of wrapping paper, then repeating step 5, use traditional wrapping with two opposite sides, and again with the other two opposite sides.

We've got an article with detailed bow-tying instructions just for you.

It's not necessary, but it's easier due to how malleable tissue paper is compared to wrapping paper.

If you keep it flush with the box and crease well, you should not need to do this. Hold the first flap in place against the box, crease the second flap over it, then tape the two flaps together.

Put it in box and then wrap it using the methods above, or you could just use a gift bag and add some tissue paper on top.

The best way is to get a box or bag, rather than trying to wrap it as it is.

You can place it in the original box (or any other box that it fits in). Square and rectangular objects are the easiest to wrap.

You could make your own box or buy an empty one at the store. You could also just fold it neatly into a rectangle. Or, wrap it in gift wrap and put it a gift bag instead.

Yes, it does. Another way you can help glass not break is preserve any bubble wrap you get when ordering packages in the mail. You can save it and use it later. If you do use tissue paper, make sure the whole box or bag is filled so that the glass will not be jostled.

Yes. Follow Method 2 at the top. It will tell you all how to wrap a cube or rectangular shaped present.

Put it in a box with something to cushion it if it were to fall (tissue paper works well for this), then wrap the box like normal.

I'd either put it in a box or just use a gift bag. With more abstract shapes it's often easier to use bags.

The easiest way to wrap irregular shapes is put them into a box then wrap the box. Gift bags are really useful for odd shapes, too. Some objects you can roll wrapping paper around. As long as the wrapping paper is wider than than the gift, you can fold the end over the paper down toward the center of the gift and secure with tape or ribbon.

You could just leave the barcode, but black out the actual cost of the item or remove the tag. Just make sure not to cover the barcode in case they need to return it. And keep the receipt, letting them know you have it should it need to be changed for any reason.

You could put it in a bag, or just wrap it gently with regular wrapping paper.

Pull the ribbon around the present and tape it underneath. Then repeat in the other direction. If you choose, you can tie the second ribbon into a bow on top instead of taping it.

If you don't have a box, you can easily put it in a gift bag. If you don't have that either, then you could wrap it like a pouch. Lay the paper out and place the stuffed animal (or whatever you're wrapping) on top of it in the middle, then bring all the edges of the paper together and bundle it up.

Roll the towel up and tie a ribbon or some decorative twine around the roll to keep it together. If it's a very big towel, like a beach towel, you might want to fold it in half lengthwise before you roll it up. Then roll gift wrap around the rolled towel and secure with clear tape or similar. Use a whole sheet of gift wrap, or cut enough from a roll, fold the ends in and tape them down, too. You could also put the rolled-up or folded towel at the bottom of a large gift bag and put scrunched up tissue paper on top of the towel to cover it and fill the gift bag.

Most paper can be used to wrap a gift, including construction paper, kraft paper, scrapbooking paper, computer paper, the comics section of the newspaper, recycled paper, tissue paper, and more.

To use a decorative bag for a gift, place tissue paper inside of the bag, place your gift inside, and place more tissue paper on top of it. (Optionally, stick a card inside as well.)

Place the clothing in a large gift bag and proceed to wrap it as you normally would any other gift. The large gift bag will provide more of a sturdy surface for the tape and wrapping paper. Another option is to wrap the clothes in tissue paper, then wrap with the gift wrap.

You can put it in a gift bag instead or you can just give it to them by hand. Or, use it as the wrapping paper itself.