Confession: I kind of love wrapping gifts. For reasons I can’t explain, I find it to be extremely soothing. I realize, however, that lots of people think wrapping gifts is the most annoying task in the world, so here — have a video of a gift-wrapping hack that will make your life infinitely easier this holiday season. Consider it my gift to you. You’re welcome.
Shot by YouTuber Todd Tripp at Japan’s Takashimaya Department Store, the video demonstrates a method for wrapping presents that’s not only fast and easy, but which, moreover, will make your gifts look like the proverbial million bucks every. Single. Time. No more poofy edges; no more torn sides; just a crisp, clean wrapping job that’s almost too perfect to tear open again. The key word there is “almost,” by the way; there’s nothing quite like the sound of a wrapping paper massacre during gift exchanging time to get you into the holiday spirit, am I right?
BuzzFeed transformed the video into a bunch of GIFs, so head on over there if you’d rather see it that way; if still photos are easier for you to follow, though, I’ve got you covered here. Scroll down to watch the whole video:
Step 1: Assume the Position
This is perhaps the most important part of the whole thing, because if you don’t do this step right, the hack won’t work. When it comes to square and rectangular gifts, you’re used to lining up the edges and corners of the wrapping paper with the edges and corners of the gift, right? Well, throw that idea out the window. Instead, turn the sheet of paper so it’s at an angle underneath the gift.
Step 2: Fold the First Corner
Fold the side closest to your body up, then fold the first corner in. Secure the corner with a piece of tape.
Step 3: Fold the First Side
This step takes care of the bulk of the wrapping: Fold the side over — you’ll be bringing the paper up over the top of the gift and towards you — then, holding what you just did in place, flip the whole gift over so what was previously the bottom of it is now the top. Like so:
Step 4: Fold the Second Corner
You’re basically repeating step two here, just with the other side. Secure it with another piece of tape.
Step 5: Fold the Second Side
Then repeat step three with the second side: Bring the remaining paper up over the top of the gift and towards yourself. Tape it down, add a bow and gift tag if you like, and you’re good to go!
Watch the whole video here — although consider yourself warned: It's pretty speedy. Talk about skills:
Speaking of bows, need a few pointers on how to make one? Here’s the method I use; I picked it up watching a local shop in my hometown doing their whole giftwrapping routine when I was a kid, and I’ve used it ever since (start at the 2:42 mark):
Happy wrapping!
Images: JD Hancock/Flickr; Todd Tripp/YouTube (6)
