Gift Wrap 101 - Lesson One

I did promise to get a bit more practical in showing you gift wrapping tricks of the trade. This is the first post in a series so you have some good basic skills for the holiday season ahead. I will use this gift shown above to illustrate a number of techniques and tips in a series of posts over the next week. How to go 'tapeless", how to measure and fold for neat edges, how to tie ribbon so the bottom is flat, and what to do with the gift wrap strips that are always at hand. Some of this I have touched on before but I have photographed step by step for those of you who are interested in learning the extra steps to a professionally wrapped gift. Gift wrapping is an art......but as I always say, it is not a difficult one, you just have to have the right tools at hand.

Lesson # 1 - DO NOT USE THIS TAPE if you want a perfect gift. Yes, it even says Gift Wrap Tape and though 3M may be the industry leader, I really wonder if they have tried it. I'm not going to get into a lecture about scotch tape (nor am I only talking about 3M) but I will tell you this about any satin finish tape..........it is really, really obvious and it doesn't stick that well on good quality paper which means you have to use a ton of it and then it really does look a mess. There is a much better way.

This is how your gift package will look if you actually use any satin finish Gift Wrap Tape. You really can do better than this and I am going to tell you how..........

If I go to all the trouble to wrap a beautiful package with pretty gift wrap and gorgeous ribbon, I do not want to see tape......it's that simple. I don't think anyone does. I certainly know that my customers don't want me to send out a package with obvious scotch tape all over the place. Your absolute best tool for gift wrapping is double-sided tape. It is the single best tip I can give you. It is not difficult to use, actually it is easier as it does allow some movement if you make a mistake. As you will see in the next post, it is used on the underside of all your paper edges so if you have to move your paper a bit to pull tighter no one is the wiser. When you find double-sided tape, stock up on it as it can be difficult to find in some areas. I can promise you once you make the switch to "tapeless" wrapping, you will never use a visible tape again. In fact, you might even start to feel downright superior about your new find and technique.

My second essential tip is that you remove the spool and put it into a office tape dispenser. This means you only have to use one hand for pulling a piece of tape, the other hand is where it should be......holding and taping the paper tightly in place. To try and pull tape with a regular dispenser is cumbersome and impossible. No one can do this nicely, not even me. When you purchase double-sided tape, you have to pull off the first bit before it gets to the part that is sticky on both sides. I am embarrassed to admit that when I first bought double-sided tape it took me awhile to figure this out.

Double-sided tape eliminates any visible tape so your folded edges are beautifully finished. Doesn't that look much nicer?

I am showing you the underside of this sample gift for two reasons. First to show you how the switch to double-sided tape eliminates all the messy tape along the bottom..............so much better don't you think? My next post will show you how to use double-sided tape and how to measure and fold your paper. The post may go over 2 days as it is photographically longer. After that I will show you how to tie ribbon so the bottom is flat as you see here. When I learnt this technique, I couldn't believe how much nicer it was to eliminate the wobbly knot at the bottom that results from using wider ribbon. For those of you who feel a four-sided ribbon tie is too intimidating, I will also show you a easy way to get the same look. You are going to be such pros at this gift wrapping thing!

All photos by Sande Chase ~ A Gift Wrapped Life