Gift wrap 1-2-3

Look, I’m not going to say I’m the gift wrap queen or anything, but people do sometimes comment on how my gifts are always well-wrapped. It’s a burden, this talent, but someone has to carry it.

In all seriousness, I’m actually a fairly impatient and lazy crafter. I want things to look nice, but I want them to look nice quickly, dammit, because I just don’t have the patience for anything else. (My sister. Now, when she decides to commit to a project, there is a patient crafter and gift-wrapper extraordinaire.)

So here’s my foolproof formula for attractive and interesting #LazyCraft gift-wrap.

1. Wrap the gift in wrapping paper. Preferably wrapping paper in a solid colour or with a simple pattern.
2. Tie some ribbon/string around it.
3. Tie or tape an extra decorative element on. Think small tree ornaments, paper flowers, pom poms, paper doilies, a bit of foliage, an interesting sticker… whatever you can think of!

It’s step 3 that makes the gifts suddenly look special. If you pick a consistent style, this style of wrapping looks particularly nice en masse. So if you’ve got a bunch of holiday gifts that will sit around in your house for a couple of weeks before you give them away, wrap them up and turn them into decor in the meantime.

Bonus tip: if you pick contrasting textures or colours, the gift will really pop. For last year’s holiday gifts, I picked out metallic wrapping papers. So for contrast, I chose ribbons and decorative elements in matte, contrasting colours (pictured). I bought everything from Ikea: you can always rely on Ikea for a range of interesting, small ornaments.

In 2015 I used matte red wrapping paper, so I chose shiny ribbons in green and gold. (Again, with small tree ornaments from Ikea.)

If you’re not an Ikea aficionado like me, you can likely find a range of small ornamental things in a range of themes at your local craft store. (Or if you prefer the handmade, but distinctly less lazy, touch you could make ornamental features such as paper snowflakes.)

This year, I bought my paper, ribbon, and gift tags from Melbourne business InkyCo. I’ve gone with monochrome paper with sprigs of greenery. Too easy!