This year give your friends and family something they'll remember- no, I don't mean the gift itself, I mean the packaging it comes in. Turn an ordinary gift into something spectacular with this guide. Your loved ones will know that you really care, and you will feel great about it, all because of the wrapping on the gift.

Step 1: Materials

The materials that I found useful were:

Plain wrapping paper
Decorated wrapping paper
Tissue paper(many colors)
Clear cellophane bags
Roll of cellophane
Ribbon in assorted styles and colors
Pipe cleaners
Gift tags (homemade or store bought)
Tape
Scissors

Step 2: Planning It Out

In order to make your masterpiece, you first must plan what you are going to do. You could make all of your presents one family follow a theme like candy and wrap all of the gifts to make them look like candy canes and hard candy for example, or you give a hint about what's inside the wrapper by relating it to the present. You could also just be creative and turn it into something else.

Here are some things that I did:

For my grandparents, I wrapped all of their presents to look like candy. One was the colors of a candy cane, one was wrapped like a box of chocolate, and the last one wrapped like a mint with the ends tied. All of them were wrapped in cellophane to give them a more realistic effect.

My cousins:

Gift: a pop-up book about super-hereos
Wrapping: wrapped like a regular present with flames made out of tissue paper shooting out the top of it

Gift: a dinosaur pop-up book
Wrapping: wrapped in brown paper with brown tissue paper on top, a pile of bones, a guide book, and shovel, also all made out of tissue paper

The last one was done a little bit differently. Instead of relating the gift to the wrapping, I just turned it into something else.

Gift: a fluffy pink skirt with leggings
Wrapping: Regular decorated wrapping paper folded to look like an envelope, handmade address label, stamp, and return label

Gift exchange:

The theme for the gift exchange was "squishy things", so I got a squishy caterpillar. This one is my personal favorite. It was wrapped to look like a flower pot. There were lots of paper flowers in all different colors. The caterpillar was wrapped in brown tissue paper to look like dirt and the whole thing was put into a clear plastic cellophane bag.

Step 3: Choosing the Supplies

Once you have planned how you will wrap the gift, you will need to get the correct supplies. The list of supplies that I used is provided, but feel free to experiment.

Cellophane is simple to use an it adds a nice touch to pretty much any package.

Tissue paper is what I used the most of, you can make things out of it and use it as the undercoat of a present with cellophane. It comes in many colors, so this is very handy to have around when you are wrapping presents.

Plain white and brown wrapping paper can be used for covering the gift before you decorate it and it is usually strong.

Ribbon can be used on almost any present to make it look better if you are not already satisfied with your work, even the simplest bow can make a big difference.

Gift tags keep the receivers of your gifts from fighting over the one with the biggest bow or the shiniest ribbon.

Step 4: Wrapping the Gift

Wrapping the gift is the most important part, after all, it is where the whole thing comes together. Don't get too excited and forget to do the regular stuff like marking out the price before you wrap the present rather than after.

Be creative on this step and add your own touch to all of the gifts you are wrapping. It does help to have all of the supplies ready and near you so that you won't have to get up lots of times to get each supply individually. Also, make sure you have enough time to go through the entire process and don't rush your self. Go easy on the tape, this will make the package look neater and nicer.

Step 5: Finishing It Off

Now that the present has been wrapped, finish it off by signing your name. If you feel the need to, take a picture of it to show it off. When you give the present to it's recipients, see how they react. They will know how much effort you put into making them happy, no matter what the occasion.