How to wrap a present neatly: 6 steps and awkward shapes
Most untidy presents have too much paper, not too little. Here are the paper sizes for common boxes, six steps for a crisp finish, and methods for round, soft and bottle-shaped gifts.
A neat present comes down to paper cut to size, a folded edge along the seam and hard creases at the ends. Most untidy parcels have too much paper rather than too little. Below you will find a size chart for common boxes, the six steps for wrapping a box, and methods for round, soft and bottle-shaped gifts, including two ways to wrap with no tape at all.
What you need to wrap a present
- Wrapping paper. Thicker paper hides the box underneath and splits less at the corners.
- Sharp scissors. Blunt blades chew the cut edge instead of slicing it.
- Double-sided tape for an invisible seam, plus a little clear tape.
- Ribbon or twine, and gift tags.
- A hard, clear table. Carpet and beds give soft, uneven creases.
- A box or a gift bag for anything that is not box-shaped.
Rolls of paper, ribbon and tags are all in our gift wrapping and Christmas cards collection.
How much wrapping paper do you need?
Measure the box: length (L), width (W) and height (H). Lay it top down with its length running across the roll, parallel to the cardboard tube, then cut a rectangle to these two sizes.
- 2 × (W + H) + 4 cmround the box: 3 cm of overlap plus a 1 cm folded edge
- L + H + 3 cmalong the box: a little over half the box’s height at each end
The second figure is where most parcels go wrong. Each end only needs paper reaching just past halfway up the end of the box. Any more and you are folding thick wads of paper that will not crease flat.
| Example box (L × W × H) | Paper round the box | Paper along the box | Ribbon, one way round |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paperback book, 20 × 13 × 3 cm | 36 cm | 26 cm | 32 cm + bow |
| Mug box, 12 × 10 × 10 cm | 44 cm | 25 cm | 40 cm + bow |
| Shoebox, 33 × 20 × 12 cm | 68 cm | 48 cm | 64 cm + bow |
| Folded jumper box, 35 × 25 × 8 cm | 70 cm | 46 cm | 66 cm + bow |
| Board game, 40 × 27 × 7 cm | 72 cm | 50 cm | 68 cm + bow |
Cut the “round the box” figure off the roll; the “along” figure has to fit across the width of the roll. No tape measure to hand? Roll the box over on the paper through all four sides, add two finger-widths and mark the spot with a pencil.
How to wrap a present in 6 steps
- Cut the paper to the two sizes above. Keep the scissors half open and push them through the paper in one long glide for a clean edge.
- Fold a clean edge: turn 1 cm of paper under along one long side and crease it with your thumbnail. This is the edge that will show.
- Wrap the box. Place it top down in the middle of the paper. Bring the plain edge up and over, then pull the folded edge over it, tight, and stick it down with a strip of double-sided tape. The seam now runs along the base of the present.
- Fold the first end. Push the upper flap down flat against the end of the box. The paper at each side folds into a small triangle: crease both, then fold the two side flaps in flat.
- Close the end. Fold the tip of the last flap under by about 5 mm for a straight edge, pull it up tight against the box and fix it with double-sided tape.
- Repeat steps 4 and 5 at the other end, turn the box the right way up and add ribbon and a tag.
Done this way, a box takes three pieces of tape: one on the seam and one at each end.
Adding the ribbon
A ribbon that crosses on top needs 2L + 2W + 4H, plus the bow. Two 8 cm loops and two 10 cm tails use about 55 cm with the knot, so the shoebox in the table takes 154 cm plus 55 cm: cut about 2.1 m. Our guide to tying a bow on a present covers the loops and the knot.
How to wrap awkward shapes
Anything that is not a box needs either a box around it or a method made for its shape.
| Shape | Method | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Ball or round gift | Gather the paper into a pouch and tie it | Thick paper cracks when bunched: use thinner paper or tissue |
| Candle, tube or tin | Roll the paper round it, then pleat each end | Uneven pleats: keep them small and turn the gift as you go |
| Bottle | Roll, pleat the base, gather the paper at the neck | Weight: use strong double-sided tape on the seam |
| Jumper, scarf or soft toy | Fold it around a piece of card, or box it | Snags: wrap it in tissue first |
| Very large or odd shape | Gift bag, or two sheets joined on the back with tape | A gap at the join: overlap the sheets by 2 to 3 cm |
Round presents
Measure round the widest part of the gift and cut a square with sides of that measurement plus 10 cm: about 41 cm for a ball 10 cm across. Stand the gift in the middle, bring the four corners up, then gather the paper around the top in small pleats. Tie a ribbon tight just above the gift and fan out the paper above the knot.
Candles, tubes and bottles
Roll the paper around the gift with 2.5 cm of overlap and tape the seam, leaving a little more than half the diameter of paper beyond each end. To close an end, fold a small section of paper towards the centre, fold the next section over it, and keep going round until the pleats meet; a sticker hides the point where they meet.
For a bottle 7.5 cm across and 30 cm tall, cut 27 cm round by 45 cm long: pleat the base, then gather the spare paper at the neck and tie it with ribbon. A heavy bottle is often easier in one of our Christmas gift bags.
Soft gifts and presents without a box
Fold a jumper or scarf into a neat rectangle around a piece of stiff card cut from a cereal box, wrap it in tissue, then wrap it as a box. The card gives the paper sharp edges to crease against. A lidded box from our Christmas gift boxes does the same job with no paper at all.
How to wrap a present without tape
Two methods need no tape at all.
- Fabric (furoshiki). This Japanese wrapping cloth is a square of fabric. Musubi Kiln, which sells Japanese crafts, lists 68 to 70 cm cloths for gift boxes and wine bottles and 45 to 50 cm ones for small items such as a lunch box. Lay the gift diagonally in the middle, fold two opposite corners over it, tuck in the sides as you would with paper, then knot the last two corners on top. The cloth can be used again.
- Paper held by ribbon. Wrap as usual but crease every fold hard, tuck each end flap underneath, and let a ribbon tied both ways round the box hold everything in place.
How to wrap a present Japanese style
The diagonal wrap, naname-tsutsumi in Japanese, uses one sheet and three small pieces of tape, and leaves diagonal folds across the parcel.
- Lay the box at an angle on the paper, so three of its corners sit on the paper and one hangs over the edge nearest you. Folding the paper towards you should cover the whole box.
- Fold the near corner of the paper up over the box.
- Work round the box one side at a time: pinch the paper against each corner, pull the flap up and over, and tape it down.
- Turn the box over as you go. Fold the raw edge of the last flap under so it runs straight, then tape it.
Musubi Kiln’s step-by-step tutorial notes that the direction carries meaning in Japan: one way round for celebrations, turned 180 degrees for condolences.
Fancy and creative ways to wrap a gift
- Printed kraft paper: dip the rim of an empty tape roll in white paint and print circles on plain brown paper.
- Fresh greenery: in a wrapping how-to for Robert Welch, Jane Means suggests tucking ivy, bay, laurel or rosemary under the ribbon at the last minute, so it is still fresh when the present is opened.
- Old baubles and tassels tied into the bow, another of her tips.
- A pleated band: fold a strip of narrow pleats across the paper before wrapping, hold them on the back with double-sided tape, and run the ribbon across them.
- Last year’s Christmas cards, cut down and hole-punched, as gift tags.
- A box inside a box: wrap a small present, put it in a bigger box and wrap that too.
Common gift wrapping mistakes
| Mistake | What happens | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Too much paper at the ends | Bulky ends that will not crease flat | Just over half the box’s height at each end |
| Too little paper round the box | A strip of cardboard shows at the seam | 2 × (W + H) + 4 cm |
| Seam on the top | The join is the first thing anyone sees | Start with the box top down |
| Single-sided tape on show | Shiny strips on every edge | Double-sided tape, or hide the tape under the ribbon |
| Soft creases | Rounded, puffy corners | Run a thumbnail or a ruler edge along every fold |
| Glitter or foil paper | It cannot go in the paper recycling | Plain paper that passes the scrunch test |
Recycle Now’s scrunch test is the quick check: paper that stays scrunched in a ball instead of springing back can go in the recycling if your council collects wrapping paper (not all do), while foil and glitter paper cannot, and tape and ribbon should come off first. Our guide to recyclable wrapping paper explains how to tell and what to buy instead.
How to wrap presents faster
- Set up once: paper, scissors, tape, ribbon and tags within reach on one table.
- Cut a dozen strips of tape before you start and stick each one lightly by one end along the edge of the table.
- Sort presents by size and wrap the boxes first; the off-cuts from big sheets cover the small ones.
- Use the box as your ruler instead of measuring each one.
- Bag the awkward shapes rather than fighting them.
- Write the tags as you go, so nothing ends up anonymous under the tree.
Shapes that refuse to sit in paper can go straight into a bag, and the rest of our Christmas wrapping paper range has the rolls, ribbon and tags. Still choosing what goes inside? Our list of the most unwanted Christmas gifts shows what to steer clear of.
Frequently asked questions
What is the easiest way to wrap a present?
For a box, the standard wrap with double-sided tape: paper round the box with a few centimetres of overlap and the ends folded into triangles. For anything else, a gift bag with two sheets of tissue paper is the quickest option and hides an odd shape completely.
How do you wrap a present without a box?
Give it a flat base first. Fold soft items around a rectangle of stiff card and wrap that like a box, or gather a square of thin paper around a round gift and tie it at the top. A gift bag takes care of anything else.
How can I wrap presents faster?
Work at one table with everything within reach, cut your tape strips in advance and wrap boxes of a similar size in one go. Rolling the box over on the paper is quicker than a tape measure, and odd shapes go straight into bags.
What are the most common gift wrapping mistakes?
Cutting too much paper, which gives bulky ends that will not lie flat, and leaving the seam on top. Visible shiny tape and soft creases come next. Cutting to size, starting with the box upside down and creasing with a thumbnail fixes all four.
How do you wrap a present without tape?
Use a wrapping cloth: lay the gift diagonally on a square of fabric, fold two corners over it and knot the other two on top. With paper, a firmly creased wrap held by a ribbon tied in both directions stays closed without any tape.
How do you wrap a round present?
Cut a square with sides equal to the distance round the widest part of the gift plus 10 cm, stand the gift in the middle and gather the paper up around it in small pleats. Tie ribbon tightly just above the gift. Thin paper or tissue bunches more neatly than thick foil paper.
What are some clever ways to wrap a gift?
Plain brown kraft paper printed with a little paint, a sprig of rosemary or bay under the ribbon, or a reusable fabric wrap. Hiding a small gift inside a series of bigger wrapped boxes makes the opening last longer.
How do you give a present in a fun way?
Turn the opening into a game: a trail of written clues around the house that leads to the gift, or a small present hidden inside several larger wrapped boxes. For children, several layers of paper unwrapped one at a time work like pass the parcel.
