Gift Wrapping: What's your style and is there an etiquette for this?

[Kess]

I go a little overboard, but I love it!  I have lots of types of paper to wrap in, and handmade paper for layering and decorating, and there is pleating and folding and bows and ribbon and ... <breathless>  I'm getting excited just thinking about it.

You can't see the pleats properly on the picture, but in person they looked great:





And this one was annoyingly not quite square, which drove me mad because it looked like it should be so doesn't look as good as it could, but it was an early attempt when I'd only just gotten into wrapping:



I don't think I could bring myself to use a gift bag.  I don't think they're rude, but I'd have deprived myself of an opportunity to wrap!

Whoever said people don't notice pretty wrapping, well I'm happy to say my friends and family do.  I got lots of compliments.

We also try and wrap certain gifts to disguise what's in them.  Mom almost always gets my Dad a toblerone, so finding new ways to disguise that obvious shape became part of the game each year.  One year we put it inside the inner tube from a kitchen roll, and then used tissue paper to padd the ends so it looked like a dumbell or dog's bone.

[KenveeB]

Ooh, I like the pleating!  I'll have to give that a try.

[Kess]

Ooh, I like the pleating!  I'll have to give that a try.

I've used it to great effect in opposite directions on either side of the front of a rectangular gift, which then gives you a sort of framed area in the middle for gift tag or whatever.  I also did a woven wrapping one time, using double sided paper.  That had a big impact.

Like I said, the ones below are from my first Christmas wrapping like that, previously my only aim was neatness.  It's all my Mom's fault; she got a book out of the library on wrapping and I got hooked once I looked at all the pretty things that could be done.

[lisastitch]

While I admire a beautifully wrapped gift, I don't have the patience to do it myself, so I put as much as I can in  pre-decorated gift boxes or bags that I save from year to year.
I'm also really bothered by the amount of paper that gets thrown away, and don't have the patience/space/time to save it.  A few years ago, I started making fabric gift bags out of pretty Christmas fabric.    I've also started making furoshiki, which is a form of Japanese gift-wrapping using squares of fabric.  There are lots of pretty ways of tying it, but I don't usually get too elaborate.  I put my initials and the year on the bottom of each.
At first I just used them for my immediate family, but had enough this last year that I started giving them to extended family, with the request that they be used as much as possible within the family.  I'm looking forward to getting gifts in them someday!

[Suze]

http://www.env.go.jp/en/focus/attach/060403-5.html

I found this when I looked up furoshiki -- very cool

[Shores]

After realizing the sheer amount of newspaper that we throw out every day (although we do recycle it), I've decided I'm going to wrap all presents in newspaper from now on. At least it can serve one more purpose before getting recycled.

[sparklestar]

I'm useless at wrapping so I have delegated this task to hubby! He is super anal about it, even getting a ruler to cut straight lines and the results always look terrific. He hates shopping though, so I figure it's a fairly even division of labour.

I really love either newspaper or brown paper packaging as gift wrap - either tied up with coloured string or really beautiful ribbons - I think it looks great. Another tip: chinese newspapers make wonderful wrappers since you can't really read the headlines!

[ydpubs]

"Just a box with bright-colored paper,
And the whole thing's topped with a bow.
What's in it?
What's in it?
That's the point of the thing, not to know!"    

LOL. This poem reminded me of an old episode of Happy Days. Does anyone remember Chuck? He was Richie & Joannie's older brother who played B-ball and went away to college never to return. In a X-mas episode Joanie picked up what was clearly a wrapped basketball to Chuck and bounced it to him. Chuck grabbed it and said: Hey watch it! It might be something breakable.  

[Athos_000]

I love to wrap gifts. I prefer to make them beautiful with ribbons and bows and embellishments, and will use gift-bags with special touches as well. I got this from my mother, who insists on perfectly wrapped packages (not for herself, but what she wraps to give to others).

My husband came with a cat, and we have aquired three more in the past four years. My cats (his old one especially!) think curling ribbon and bows are kitty snacks. While getting ready for my wedding, I had four gift baskets for my bridesmaids and flower girl filled, wrapped and ribboned. They were lined up in my living room on a shelf. One day I noticed that on the two that had any ribbon left, it was hanging in whispy shredded strings with teeth marks in it. (thankfully no cat was harmed during that particular snack attack!)  Our christmas packages now go under the tree with no ribbons and few bows. I love the pleating technique posted and will try it this year!