5 easy, beautiful new ways to wrap gifts

Using recycled materials doesn't mean your presents will look shabby. Just use some of these techniques from the experts.

Thu, Dec 20 2012 at 10:53 AM

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Christmas, Holiday, DIY

Photo: Tommaync/flickr

I've always thought wrapping presents is more fun than buying them, but no matter how much you enjoy the process, sitting down to make a bunch of boxes and odd-shaped items pretty as a picture can be a challenge for anyone. Throw reused boxes, bags and paper into the mix, and the process can be downright overwhelming. Luckily, as long as there has been YouTube, there have been people making videos about various different ways to wrap gifts. Check out these five, which are packed with ideas from the simple (Threadbanger video) to the complicated-but-worth-it (Japanese bottle-wrapping). And don't forget; wrapping can be fun if you give yourself time and space to do it. It doesn't have to be a chore if you elevate the task to a creative art project.

This is a great tutorial if you are confounded by wrapping and need to know the basics. The wrapper-presenter also shows you how to use craft paper and a recycled Ikea measuring tape for a fun, different-looking present.

This tutorial shows you exactly how to wrap a bottle of wine, Japanese-style, to beautiful effect. Not only is this a gorgeous and dramatic look, it's also a great way to use recycled paper in complementary colors (or contrasting!) for a stronger, more fun statement.

These tricks from the team at Threadbanger are simple enough that anyone (seriously) can do these using recycled materials.

Wrapping using fabric is known in Japanese as Furoshiki. Not only can you reuse the fabric, you could also wrap a gift in a new or disused scarf, and the technique shows you how to do this without using fasteners of any kind - it's fabric-only.

There's all sorts of ways you can use already-existing and reused items to make packages prettier.

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