With holiday season just around the corner, a blogger has come up with a series of simple gift wrapping hacks, designed to save time and money.
Kallie Branciforte, 29, from Connecticut, who runs the successful blog But First, Coffee, posted the video to YouTube, revealing that while perfectly shaped boxed are easy to wrap, the reality is several gifts need a bit more consideration when it comes to wrapping them.
During the video, which features music by Grace Gaustad, Kallie also revealed that wrapping presents isn’t always easy as it looks. ‘Today I’m going to share with you some of my favorite present wrapping hacks that are going to make wrapping all of your presents a lot easier,’ she revealed.
WRAP DIAGONALLY TO USE LESS PAPER
Kallie first revealed that using a diagonal wrapping method uses less paper.
‘This is going to blow your mind. It honestly amazed me when I first figured out how to do it,’ she said.
Placing a rectangular box diagonally in the middle of a square piece of wrapping paper, Kallie showed how matching up the diagonal corners allowed her to wrap without gaps, fixing each piece of paper in place with some tape.
She added: ‘So not only does this hack work if you happen to cut a piece of wrapping paper that was too small, it’s going to save you money as well as you don’t need to buy as much wrapping paper.’
Holiday hacks: Blogger Kallie Branciforte has created a YouTube video revealing her top money and time saving gift wrapping tips
Frugal: Kallie who blogs at But First, Coffee, revealed her first hack uses as little wrapping paper as possible
MAKE A GIFT BAG WITH WRAPPING PAPER
‘Gift bags are great because you can use them for any awkward or unusually shaped items,’ Kallie said of her next tip.
‘But if you’ve run out of gift bags and you have some wrapping paper, you can easy use wrapping paper to make a gift bag,’
She advises to cut a piece of wrapping paper big enough to wrap the entire object. She then folds the piece of paper in half by folding in the two sides to create a seam down the middle, fixed in place with some double stick tape.
Then, folding the bottom of the bag, Kallie created an open triangle, folding these pieces of paper into a diamond shape before folding the corners in again to create an six-sided bottom and can stand up.
Describing it as being like ‘a brown paper lunch bag’, she then stood the bag up to show how to pack it before folding the top over. She also advised that the top can be fixed in place with some tape or with ribbon, inserted via two holes poked in the top.
Bags of potential: Kallie also revealed how she creates gift bags using wrapping paper
Easy to follow: Kallie’s video gives step-by-step instructions
Professional: Kallie says double stick tape makes gift wrapping look more ‘put together’
CHANGE TO DOUBLE STICK TAPE
‘My next tip is to consider using double stick tape instead of regular tape, this way you can use the double stick tape on the inside of the seams of whatever you’re wrapping and you won’t have any tape exposed,’ Kallie explained.
She believes this helps wrapping look a little bit more ‘put together and professional’.
MAKE A BOW OUT OF WRAPPING PAPER
Perfect for when you don’t have any ribbon or bows leftover, Kallie’s next tip involved create a bow out of wrapping paper.
‘Sometimes all a present needs is a little bow to make it look more finished and put together,’ she told the camera.
Cutting a piece of paper in a rectangular shape, Kallie then said this piece should be folded in half ‘the hot-dog way’, before being folded in half again, this time ‘the hamburger way’.
Paper ribbon: The blogger also showed how to create a ribbon out of wrapping paper
Curls: Kallie showed how to curl wrapping paper with a scissors
DIY: She then fashioned the strips into a bow shape
Then taking a scissors, she cut strips into the paper, keeping them attached by leaving a border at the edge of the sheet, before curling them with the scissors.
By folding the curled pieces in on top of themselves, she created a bow shape, fixed in place with double stick tape.
HOW TO MAKE A PILLOW BOX OUT OF A TOILET PAPER TUBE
‘These are great if you have any small gifts to give away with bracelets or earrings,’ Kallie said of the pillow boxes she created using a toilet paper tube.
Taking a used toilet paper tube, Kallie folded in the corners to make flaps and said she found this easier to do after scoring the cardboard with scissors, using a small round bottle as an outline for the curved shape.
Bog standard: Kallie also showed how to make a pillow box for smaller gifts using a toilet roll
Pillow talk: The finished result, wrapped in paper and colored string, looks nothing like a used toilet roll
Instead of covering the cardboard with paper, she advised that she simply wraps one piece of paper around the pillow box to give a contrasted effect, before finishing it off with a string bow.
MAKE A GIFT BOX USING A PRINGLES CONTAINER
Another great trick for a hard to wrap present, Kallie also revealed how she repurposes empty Pringles cans.
First she washes the cans out before wrapping them in paper, securing it in place with tape or glue.
‘It’s good for things like nail polishes, or lipsticks, a printing or a poster,’ she explained.
Once you pop: She says empty Pringles containers are perfect for wrapping nail polishes, lipsticks, or a printing
Repurposed: Kallie also noted that she washes the cans out before wrapping them in paper