How to Wrap a Classy Package

Long ago, when dinosaurs roamed the earth and I was in college the first time, I had a roommate who, as soon as school was out for Christmas, would rush home to a big city in the east, to her Christmas season job.  She worked in a big department store wrapping presents.  She was paid minimum wage, but she did such a good job that she paid her next semesters tuition on the tips she earned.  Not Bad.  We, her roommates begged her to teach us what she did.  So here are the rules to making an average package look great.  Let’s get started.

Step 1:

Supplies:
Wrapping paper (or any kind of paper)
Tape
Scissors
Ribbon
A box to wrap (use a box whenever possible)

Step 2:

First, color co-ordinate your paper with the ribbon.  You can use any paper you like, but buy ribbon that will compliment one or more of the colors in the paper.  Here we have white and blue paper with white ribbon.  FYI this paper is recyclable.

Step 3:

Second, take the time to cut the paper to fit the box.  Have the paper overlap by about 4 inches when it meets in the center, and cut the ends so that when they are folded in they will lie smooth.

Step 4:

Third, never tape down a raw edge (one cut by the scissors).  Every edge that gets taped down and exposed to public view needs to be a folded down edge.  This step alone will make your package look classy.

Step 5:

Fourth, embellish your package.  If you were my Hubby, the package would be wrapped (no edges folded under), he would write a name on it with his pen and then stick it under the tree.  Better yet, he would hand me the gift in the paper bag in came in.  I, on the other hand need the ribbon, with the bow, to be there or it just isn’t complete.

Step 6:

Here I will show you two simple ways to add ribbon to your package.

#1:  With some wide ribbon, tape the one edge on the top of the package in the upper left hand corner.  Wrap the ribbon, down and around the bottom of the lower left hand corner, then up over the lower right hand corner and down under the upper right hand corner and the have the ribbon meet where it started.  Tape the end down and cut it.  Now you can put a premade bow over the taped edges, or you can came a florist bow (see my Instructable on how to make one here https://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Tie-a-Florist-Bow/) and tape it in the upper left hand corner.  Done!

Step 7:

#2:  Use curling ribbon.  I like curling ribbon because it is inexpensive and comes in a
plethora of colors. It’s easy to match the ribbon to the paper.  First, on the top of the package, hold the end of the ribbon, and wrap it under the package coming up on the other side.  Twist it around the end you are holding, (90°) and again, wrap it down around the bottom of the package back up to the top.   Cut the end of the ribbon and tie the two ends in a knot (you may need to twist the two ends around each other, to make a tight knot).

Step 8:

Roll about 6 yards of curling ribbon off the roll.  Hold the ribbon between your thumb and the cutting edge of the scissors, with the curling surface of the ribbon facing down.  Pull the end of the ribbon, keeping tension tight between your thumb and the scissors.  If it isn’t curly enough for you, repeat, for that section.  Move on to the next section and repeat until all the ribbon is curled.  Gather all the ribbon into a ball, lay it on top of the package. 

Step 9:

Make a judgment call and decide it you need to do more ribbon (I added 6 more yards). 

Step 10:

When you have enough curled ribbon, tie the free ends into a knot in the middle of the ball of ribbon. 

Step 11:

Curl the free ends.  Fluff.  Done again!

Hope you learned a few things.  Don’t feel over whelmed, do one package at a time.  Practice does make perfect.