gift wrapping tips

- do kind of a mock up fold around the package before cutting the paper to make sure you do not cut too small a piece of paper

Good tip, thanks. The way I do it, it always looks really messy...

To be really sharp you shouldn't use too much paper, but worry about that later.

how the fuck am i supposed to wrap a cast-iron skillet? help me out here.

Oh dear, elmo. I have enough trouble with wrapping books and CDs...

i'm the worst at wrapping. it's all about those gift bags for me

there is no point to wrapping a cast-iron skillet unless you put it in a box with lots and lots of newspaper and even then anybody with 1/4 of a clue is going to know what it is.

did none of y'alls relatives ever teach you how to do this?

http://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+wrap+presents

i was thinking maybe using the skillet as a basket-type base to contain other culinary gift type items, then wrapping it in some fabric, possibly an apron?

festive wrapping is nice in theory but i always think of the 2 to 3 garbage bags full of packaging and wrapping paper and ribbon and envelopes and gifty paper bags and tissue paper and boxes and those evil bubblepack packages that accumulate when all the opening is done. such a lot of waste for a little surprise!

elmo your idea is mad gay but I approve, in principal. in practice I'm thinking that would take a pretty XXL apron to pull off.

it's only a 10" skillet

bachelor gift lol

My mum taught me many moons ago, and I've since developed, ahem, a style of my own, which I really ought to do something about.

Point taken about google, Tomboto, but I was wondering if the good people of ILX had any particular tips for avoiding the obvious pitfalls.

more tape than paper sums up my style.

Sharp scissors and name-brand tape. Other than that it's all in making sure your crease is exactly where it needs to be before you palm it into place.

work on a smooth, flat surface. beds aren't a very good place, carpeted floors are okay, hard floor or tabletop is best.

also, getting the scissors to shear the paper in a straight, smooth gliding motion is pretty sweet.

from a comment to that e-how article:

Ribbon shiny side up - To have a bow where the ribbon is shiny side up, begin by holding a long piece of ribbon with the dull side facing you and the shiny side under the gift. Tie a bow keeping the shiny side outside the loops and the dull side inside.

why isnt ribbon shiny on both sides?

how the fuck am i supposed to wrap a cast-iron skillet? help me out here.
If you have a roll of cardboard (I'm not sure if anyone outside of stores do), you simply wrap the skillet in that first, then wrap that in paper afterwards. I used to work at a kitchenware/glasswares etc store, so I r0xx0r at wrapping gifts. The only real advice I have is to just wrap a box a buncha times in old newspaper or some other easily-discarded paper. It doesn't take very long at all to get good at it.

The part that was tough for me was the goddamn ribbon! I think I tried six different techniques before I got one that I was able to do quickly on various gift-shapes, let alone one I was comfortable to use to hold the whole wrapping together so I could skip tape altogether. I guess I'm not alone in being clumsy with that, as I see a lot of stores now simply cut off a small piece of ribbon and tape it to the top of the box.

If you get slanted edges etc, it can usually be fixed by folding the paper in on itself.
Hrmm, this is all very obvious, isn't it? Sorry, I guess I have no idea what good gift-wrapping advice is. Don't season the gift with salt. If you want to be fancy, use several ribbons of different colors. (I never do, as I have the color-coordination skills of a bat)

These things are pretty sweet:

http://www.dexigner.com/forum/uploads/post-1-1166740971_thumb.jpg

I have a hard time not cutting through wrapping paper all raggedy but these things fucking rule.

here are my tips:

-just tape closed the bag it came in (i am doing this tonight)

-wrap with aluminum foil, it is shiny and forgiving

Tin foil is so easy to snag tear after you wrap the gift, tho!

don't wrap the gift until you are about to give it (chances are you won't have gift wrap around and will have to use tinfoil anyway)

I did all my wrapping yesterday, and the tip that really neatened things up for me was step 7 on this page: http://www.ehow.com/how_8019_wrap-gift.html

My Christmas wrapping got totally out of hand. I have a living room scattered with gifts. It's the proliferation of children, that's what it is. I'm ok at wrapping boxy things but would have done better if I'd used Daniel's ehow link.

I've found that stationers do it for you if you buy wrapping paper from them!

If you use the kind of ribbon that you curl up by pulling a scissor's edge along it, take care to do so at the inside of any slight curl already there (eg due to the ribbon having been coiled around a spindle). Otherwise part of the intended curling will be lost in straightening out the pre-existing curl!

Only buy gifts that come in square boxes.

Yes, well, monkeys don't come in boxes. Took me two hours to get it to look OK last night. It really quieted down a few minutes after I taped the paper stuck across his nostrils and mouth, so that was a relief.
My kids have always wanted a monkey, so I can hardly wait to see their faces on Christmas morn.

Monkey in a box = more surprise value.

having good thick paper makes a big difference. it doesn't have to be the best, but if you get really cheap paper it won't fold as well, tears at corners and generally looks sloppy by the end of wrapping it. spend an extra few bucks and get something a little heavier.

The paper I used was WHSmith's own brand, which has lines criss-crossing the plain side to help you cut in a straight line.

My best tip is to get the gift wrapped by someone else, like at the store or whatever. I hate wrapping and especially shipping.

my bf, who in any other area of life is mr capable handyman, CANNOT wrap presents. It is beyond me why not. It's not that hard! I did all his kids' xmas presents last night, he tried to do a couple of the easy rectangular box ones but I took pity on the poor tortured wrapping paper and rescued them so I could do those as well.