Giving and receiving beautifully wrapped gifts makes me smile, especially at Christmas.  Witnessing the reaction of joy and that moment when their eyes glisten at the sight of a beautifully wrapped gift is just magic, it really does make unwrapping a gift as treasured as the gift itself.   Fabulous wrapped gifts also become part of the ambience and decoration, as they sit proudly under the tree completing the vision of a perfect Christmas.

This all sounds very dreamy and the reality of having the time to spend hours cutting, streaming and titivating with various elements is very unrealistic.  It can also be a costly affair with some luxury papers and ribbons costing quite a bit.  So I’ve pulled together some inspiration to help you wrap up like a pro this Christmas, get your festive tunes on, put those idol thoughts of the ‘Christmas bag’ away and let’s get started.

Have a Merry ‘green’ Christmas

Whilst some wrapping and ribbons offer sparkly and shine, a lot of them aren’t recyclable. So if you want a sustainable Christmas why not consider these options, not only will be doing your bit for the environment it’s a chance to get creative too:

• More and more retailers are realising the demand for recycled products including these fabulous papers by Paper Chase who sell this beautiful, 100% recycled. Christmas paper, take a look.  We also love Plewsy for their luxury eco-friendly paper and quirky designs.

https://plewsy.com/collections/luxury-gift-wrap

https://www.paperchase.com/en_gb/grey-scandi-village-wrapping-paper-3m.html

• Why not can create a classic parcel using brown Kraft paper.  Not only Kraft paper recyclable, but it’s also made from recycled paper and is biodegradable too.  Keep it plain or use a stamp to decorate your own and dress your gift using natural materials like string and foliage from the garden.

• John Lewis have taken it to the next level you can now buy Kraft wrapping paper in a choice of 6 colours, and their paper is FSC Certified and can obviously be recycled. 

https://www.johnlewis.com/john-lewis-partners-plain-kraft-wrapping-paper-10m/red/p4083084?irclickid=3E4S53w1BxyLWrVwUx0Mo3EtUkE3T8TWcxsawc0&irgwc=1&tmcampid=99&s_afcid=af_10078

• For those smaller gifts, you could use an old magazine that’s lying around, carefully cut the pages out and wrap using leftover ribbon from the previous year’s festivities.

• For ultimate luxury use a silky scarf to wrap up! The bonus is you can wear it after or reuse it again. We love the Fabric Wrapping Co take a peek.

https://fabricwrappingco.com/products/vintage-wrapping-scarf-bundle-surprise?variant=36451269673114&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=Google%20Shopping&gclid=Cj0KCQiAw_H-BRD-ARIsALQE_2OLyGufJUuxONikE8kWaMfB-kLkFQsOoDTfXpf0QLjF8fmHKCFTJ94aAq_NEALw_wcB

Now you’re all wrapped up, let’s get to work on those finishing touches. There are hundreds of ways to decorate and theme your presents, and by using these final props you can really add that WOW factor, here are just a few suggestions to complete the perfect gift.

• Think about using natural materials like pinecones, fir branches, holly, rosemary, dried flowers, even some smalls twigs from the garden.
• Try crafting things like mini wreaths, wooden tags, pom pom, hand-painted tags, printed photographs, threaded beads, clay gift tags.
• Finally, let’s tie this up with tulle, ribbons, string, tinsel or netting, and remember to keep these little treasures to use next year.

So don’t just rely on gift bags this year have a go of getting creative and if you a really are struggling can always call in a professional wrapping service.