How to Wrap Christmas Presents – 3 Ways

This  month  for Michaels Makers we were asked to come up with creative hacks for five common holiday situations, like how to wrap Christmas gifts that are too big or shaped funny. I’m huge on how everything looks under the tree, so I really enjoyed coming up with a cute little coordinated set of wrapping styles for things that usually end up getting thrown in a gift bag.

Plus, I love to wrap things deceptively so that nobody can guess what’s inside, so even if you have an easy object, you could try wrapping it in something like this to make the guessing game a little trickier!

Michaels has tons of holiday project ideas and instructions, including gift wrapping, home décor, last minute gift ideas, hostess gifts and more. You can also check out the other 49 Michaels Makers’ holiday hacks on Michaels’ blog, The Glue String.

1. Clear Paint Can

Supplies: A clear paint can from the gift wrapping section is a great base for wrapping strangely-shaped objects. Also gather up some paper, tape, and decorative filler. I used these little styrofoam balls from the floral section. You could use mini ornaments or pompoms instead. All supplies in this post are available at Michaels stores.

1.   Fold a couple large pieces of paper to the height of the paint can, and tape them into a tube. Drop the tube into the paint can so that there’s some space all the way around it.

2.   Fill the space between the paper tube and the edges of the paint can with a pretty holiday filler.

3.   Drop your gift into the middle (inside the tube), and put the lid on the can.

2. Takeout Box

Supplies: You can get these little Chinese takeout boxes in different colors and finishes. I went with a white shimmery one to match the rest of my gift wrapping. You’ll also need more of those little styrofoam decorative balls and a needle and thread.

1.   If you have a gift that’s a lot smaller than your takeout box, wrap it in tissue first. Otherwise, just drop the gift, like this coffee mug, straight into the box, and fold the lid shut.

2.   Using an ordinary needle and thread, sew through the center of six little styrofoam decorative balls. These are the same ones I used for the paint can, and they’re probably in the floral section for filling vases.

3.   Tie off the ends of the thread to keep the balls from sliding off.

4.   Drape the mini garland around the handle of the takeout box, and just let it hang. There’s no need to tie it on or anything.

5.   You might want to adjust the balls on the thread so that they hang at slightly different heights. They fit together a little better that way.

3. “Gift Basket” Bag

Supplies: If you have something that’s really wide or tall, a flexible bag is a good option, like the ones used for wrapping up big gift baskets. We’ll also use a piece of fabric, wide satin ribbon, and the same styrofoam decorative balls with needle and thread.

Note: I used tissue paper in the supply picture above, but I actually ended up going with a burlap fabric because I loved the texture, and it gave the wrapping a lot more body.

1.   Place your gift on the center of a piece of fabric or several large sheets of tissue paper.

2.   Gather up the corners of the fabric (or tissue), working your way around the object. Find a good place to grab and gather the fabric, like the neck of this vase or directly above a shorter gift.

3.   Drop the bundle into a plastic gift basket bag, and gather the bag around the same spot as the fabric.

4.   Tie it off tightly with a wide satin bow, tying another strand of the sparkly styrofoam filler into the bow.

5.   Fluff up the fabric and bag to give it some volume and even everything out.