Christmas Gift Wrapping How To Tips

For the 10th DIY of Christmas, I am sharing my favorite gift wrapping ‘how to’ tips and a few DIYs, too. I love to coordinate packages with my holiday decor. Therefore, I chose ticking striped and checkered paper with ribbon in my favorite color, navy blue! I always add personal touches to gift wrapping without spending a lot of money, too! Here’s how I do it!

Gift Wrapping Tips

Tip One: Gather an assortment of wrapping and tissue paper, gift boxes, ribbons, bows and gift tags. Plus, tape and scissors. Keep all of this together in a basket. When any family member needs to wrap gifts, it will be easy to find.

Tip Two: Color coordinate the color of paper for each kid or parties that you will attend. Between Santa gifts, visiting the in-laws, and gifts for friends or teachers, there are many packages in the house. To avoid any confusion of what packages go where, I wrap gifts in different wrapping paper. It’s a lot easier to say ‘honey, put the green polka dotted wrapped gifts in the car,’ when heading to my in-laws, rather than reading a bunch of tags and sorting through a pile of gifts.

When my kids were younger, I wrapped my kids’ gifts in different patterned paper without names on tags. Then, on Christmas morning, I told them which one belonged to each one. This was to keep the kids from shaking the boxes till no end, or guessing what each one got before they were even opened! They are sneaky like that!

Tip Three: If you do not find gift tags that coordinate with your wrapping paper, search the scrapbook section at Hobby Lobby. I love the selection of paper. For instance, I found this farmhouse inspired paper with 20 different designs for $5. (Don’t forget to download your Hobby Lobby coupon to your phone when you are standing in line).

To DIY your own gift tags… first, cut paper in half; sheets are 4.5 x. 6.5 inches. Then, fold over paper and punch a hole into the top left of paper. Last, pull bakers twine or string through hole to attach the gift tags to bows.

Tip four: Be creative with your embellishments. Not only can you DIY your own gift tags, but y0u can add an assortment of embellishments to your gifts. For example, use natural elements like pinecones, cotton stems, or fresh greenery, or shop the craft section for Christmas crafting supplies, like the wood word cutout below. Include ornaments, jingle bells, photos, candy canes or wood letters on gift tags.

Here are a few ways to make DIY personalize gift tags, as shared in Modern Texas Living magazine last year.

For this DIY idea, I wrapped green ribbon in the shape of trees around the package three times. Next, I slid the gift tag cut from scrapbook paper between alternating rows of ribbon. This is great when you need to mail gifts, so the bow doesn’t get squished.

Tip five: Use tulle for bows on packages when traveling. Tulle is very forgivable and can easily be fluffed if mashed. Therefore, when we are traveling to see family, even a short distance, I wrap gifts with tulle.

To DIY a bow, wrap the package in tulle and tie a knot. Then, take about three feet of tulle and fold into 8 inch loops. Next, place the looped tulle above the knot and finish tying a bow like you do your shoelaces. The last thing to do is fluff by separating the tulle. The added tulle will make the bow look fuller.

Tip six: Think ahead for next year, and stock up on gift wrapping supplies when its on sale! The stores have already marked it down by Dec 20th. For instance, I have done this the past few years, and I am always prepared for the next year. I keep all my wrapping supplies together, (tip one), and often buy them on sale… so I have a nice selection without spending a lot! I’m cheap like that, like a baller on a budget. However, I would rather catch the quality paper on sale, than buy the cheap paper that easily tears.

Plus, if you buy neutral supplies like striped or polka dotted wrapping paper, solid colored tissue paper or tulle, y0u can use it for birthday gifts throughout the year, too!