If your Christmas gift-wrapping efforts usually result in sad, misshapen lumps of festively printed paper and balls of tape, take heart: You're not alone. We can't all be that friend. You know, the scissor-wielding wiz who curls the ends of ribbons just right in an instant. How'd she learn to do that, anyway?
Some of us are a bit, shall we say, clumsier. Thankfully, the internet has scores of gift-wrapping hacks. Forget the old "buy wrapping paper at the drugstore (or dust off the stash in your parents' basement) and hope for the best" method. These tricks will not only make the process easier, but help you reuse all the old stuff you don't need and make it look pretty. (Leftover fabric? Pringles cans? Yep.)
Keep this bookmarked or pinned for that inevitable December 23 oh-shit-I-procrastinated bonanza.
The candy method for wrapping small gifts is so much easier than typical gift wrapping. Plus, it doesn't have to be as neat as this picture shows to look good.
Photo: Oh Happy Day.
Reuse old Pringles cans for giving away homemade cookies and other stocking stuffers.
Photo: A Baker's House.
These Japanese methods are perfect for using up old fabric you might have laying around.
Photo: Furoshiki.
If you absolutely, positively don't want to wrap anything, you can just make a gift bag out of wrapping paper. Check out Birchbox's how-to.
Photo: Birchbox.
If you want to make a gift bag without handles, this site has a no-brainer how-to.
Photo: Designer Trapped.This Japanese department store gift-wrapping hack went viral for a good reason: It only uses three pieces of tape. Plus, watching that speed-wrapping is pretty mesmerising.
If you thought using three pieces of tape was fancy, try this one-piece-of-tape trick.
Use a toilet-paper tube as a template to make the process easier. (Googly eyes, nose, and mustache optional.)
Photo: One Crazy House.
Repurpose all your scraps into a decorative bow.
Photo: Birchbox.
Your travel-loving friends will appreciate this vintage-map gift wrap.
Photo: The DIY Mommy.
Jazz up your plain paper with polka-dot stamps.
Photo: The House That Lars Built.
And when all else fails, you can mask your poor gift-wrapping skills by drawing pretty designs in Sharpie on simple black kraft paper.
Photo: Lil Blue Boo.Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
My Boyfriend & I Pay £3,100 In Rent In New York — For 400 Square Feet & A Terrace
Transform Your Kitchen With These 29 Under-£29 Items
Airbnb Is Building The Sustainable Dream Houses Of The Future