CHRISTMAS GENTLEMAN 31
Mise-en-place ( French for “ putting in place ”)
The first step is to set up where you will work . Find enough space to work in and get together all the things you will need . Generally , I tend to wrap items alone and maybe in one or two sessions . I prepare my sticky tape into a surface that I can work from , in the picture you will see they are in a functional space , and usually enough to get through a gift or two . ( If you have a tape dispenser - use that !)
Let ’ s assume you are covering a present in the most common rectangular box shape .
● Take your paper and lay it out with the nice side face down .
● Place your object on the paper and mark off with a pencil how much paper you will need . To do this , loosely fold the paper over the box till it is covered , leaving a good edge around the box to come up halfway along the short side .
● Cut with scissors to get the right amount of paper . You can cut either on the pencil line or by creasing the paper to the size you need , or , if you have a steady hand , by line of sight .
● Place the box in the centre of the paper , fold one of the long sides up and secure to the gift with a piece of sticky tape .
● Before you bring the last edge around to close off the gift , neaten the cut edge by folding a small hem in the paper , thereby creating a clean line on the exposed paper , and stick down with tape .
If you need to see it done , here is an easy to follow wrapping tutorial .
Lastly , the finishing touches . Here you add your final flourish for presentation . From the earlier photo you can see all the “ bling ” and adornments I have to finish off the final “ product ”. Being detailed oriented , I usually vary the decorations so a recipient will receive two or three different looks on their two or three gifts , but that is just me . Some gifts will be adorned with bows and ribbons ; some with stickers and felt themed icons etc . Receiving a well appointed gift ( especially for ladies ) is a little slice of heaven .
In my theme this year , as mentioned earlier , I have included some subtle flourishes to the gifts ; red tissue paper lining white wrapping paper to create a collar , over the edge of the regular wrapping and finishing off with a glittery name tag . I do this by folding the tissue paper over the top edge of the wrapping paper , it gives a lovely effect .
I do hope you have found some inspiration and that you too will try your hand at making it a perfectly wrapped Christmas .
● For the small / short edge , fold the shortest ends towards the box and square them off , this will create a large envelope shape ( see photo ) on the remaining paper , at this point you can neatly fold or trim some of the paper to cut down bulk before securing the two envelope edges together .