YOUR 3 STEP GUIDE TO BEAUTIFULLY WRAPPED GIFTS

It's December, my absolute favourite time of the year. Is it just me or is there something truly magical about christmas time? I love everything about the season; cooking (and eating),gift wrapping, christmas carols, and the way the streets light up at night!

December is often the busiest time of the year for me, but somehow I always seem to find (make) time to spend hours making all my gifts look beautiful before they find themselves under my tree. A beautifully wrapped gift brings just as much joy to me as the gift itself and it really does make the gift giving and getting experience so much more memorable.

With just one week until christmas I can image you are searching the web trying to find some christmas gift wrap inspiration to wrap those presents you may or may not have bought yet. That's why I've created this incredibly simple 3 step guide to help you. It's nothing more than the usual combination; gift wrap, ribbon and gift tags, but with a few tweaks here and there to help your gifts show up the rest of your family's.

1. Wrapping Paper

Choosing wrapping is always the first step when it comes to gift wrapping. By choosing a colour or specific design, it really sets the theme for all your wrapping and makes it so much easier for it all to flow together without you even really thinking about it. I generally find that my wrapping paper ends up setting the tone for all my christmas celebrations and decorations as well, so it really is the perfect place to start for christmas planning in general, you'll have people amazed by the cohesiveness of every part of your christmas. This year I chose terrazzo and three wise men gift wrap from a melbourne based brand, Inky Co. All there designs really are the sweetest!

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After colour, comes quality. You absolutely want to make sure you are purchasing quality wrapping paper - it will save you from see through gifts, or the tearing that can happen when you are hurriedly trying to wrap a mountain of presents on christmas eve. It also will have your gift looking much more luxurious as a whole. You may spend a few extra dollars on a quality one but I can assure it is worth it after I had to use a roll of Kmart wrapping paper after my inky co. rolls ran out.

While my inky co. rolls were beyond perfect for small to medium gifts, i did run into a problem with my larger gifts as the rolls are only 500mm wide. I can also imagine I would have spent a fortune on gift wrap if i did manage to wrap all the large gifts in these as well. So for my bulky gifts, I bought plain white kraft wrapping paper from Ikea to wrap them in and then cut strips of the terrazzo and three wise men paper to wrap around the centre of each gift. The end result looked just as luxe as the smaller ones and also created a break for the eye from pattern and colour when all the presents are piled under the tree.

My last tip for gift wrap is to always purchase one roll specific to christmas and another roll that is non specific. I always use most of the christmas gift wrap first, so should I have any left over, I can use the non-specific one for other gifts throughout the year. It saves you from wasting paper, saves you money on other gift wrap throughout the year and means you can justify buying new christmas gift wrap next year, rather than feeling like you need to use up all the half rolls left in your cupboard from previous years. And don't worry about the wrapping paper not looking 'christmassy' enough, the christmas themed one sets the tone and anything you put next to it with similar colours will tie in and if you are concerned you can always add some christmas themed ribbon or gift tags.

2. Ribbon

Ribbon has always been the most frustrating part of gift wrapping for me, not only are they all the same - curling, organza and satin- but they never come in a long enough roll and it runs after just a few presents. Last year I used twine as an alternative, which worked really well in terms of not running out but it didn't quite have the luxury feel I was going for this year, so I was determined to find something different. I did end up with some standard gold cord ribbon, but I also purchased berry and dusky pink cheesecloth and a grey muslin (about 1.5m of each). I cut strips from each of these and use them to wrap around the centre of my gifts instead of ribbon. The cheesecloth allowed me to have a generous width, something that can almost be impossible when it comes to ribbon and really made the gifts look so stunning. The raw edges of the fabric also added another texture to the gift, which I think was the perfect finish.

3. Gift Tags

Gifts tags are always the part where personal touch meets gift wrapping, whether it be a handmade tag, a handwritten name or gorgeous christmas card; it really is the special part. Last year I used wooden letters for each gift and used each person's initial. Everyone loved this touch last year, as it wasn't just a paper tag that got thrown away but it was something they could keep and reuse. This year I was trying to think of a another way I could do a similar thing. I decided on hand-making my own clay tags. They are so simple and really do add that personal touch with every stamped letter. So far everyone who has seen them has complimented them, so I am sure they will be just as popular on your gifts as they are on mine!

Click here for how to make clay tags, I promise you they are much easier and quicker than they look!

Good Luck with all your gift wrapping!

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