How to Wrap Presents like a Professional

Have you ever looked at a beautifully wrapped present and wished you knew how to wrap presents like a professional? We did a little investigative work, and it turns out that wrapping presents is easier than we thought: it just takes a little preparation and a little attention to detail. We came up with five easy steps so that you can also wrap presents like a professional!

Close-up of a woman tying a red bow onto a green wrapped present.

Hide a weirdly shaped present

If you have small presents, like model cars or nail polish, put them in an empty toilet paper roll, wrap the roll in paper, and twist the ends on both sides before twisting tape around the ends. Anything that’s oddly shaped but a little larger can go in a shoebox or an old shipping box. That way, you won’t have to worry about weird angles as you’re trying to wrap.

Wrap the present upside-down

The present should be face-down on the paper, so that the seam of the wrapping paper is against the backside of the present.

Use the right amount of paper

Roll out some wrapping paper, and place the present in the middle of it. Fold the loose end of the paper so that it lines up in the middle of the box, then use your hand to roughly measure the same length on the other side of the box. Cut the paper, and then measure and cut the other two sides so that everything perfectly meets in the middle.

Fold and tape

Fold the long sides of the paper together so they meet neatly in the middle, and then tape them together with one or two short pieces of tape.

On the ends of the box, flatten the wrapping paper against the side of the box so that it forms a triangle at the bottom. Run your fingers along the edge where the triangle and box meet to crease the triangle. Fold the triangle against the box and tape; repeat on other side.