52 Creative Gift Wrapping Ideas

Published Nov 4, 2019 By Stephanie

Ready to wrap a million presents in a couple of hours? It may seem pretty daunting when you have large piles of gifts to wrap and not much time to do it, but these fun, easy and creative gift wrapping ideas will show you how to wrap a gift in amazing ways you never thought of. We included step by step gift wrapping basics for those of you who need them, and some cool quick ideas like how to make a gift bag out of wrapping paper. Not just for wrapping Christmas presents, either. Cute holiday ideas as well as clever and cool birthday present wrapping ideas and artistic ways to decorate the paper itself. Learn how to make clever bows and DIY gift boxes in tons of awesome shapes, too! Check out all of these brilliant ideas and learn how to wrap a present like a pro.

How To Wrap A Gift – Wrapping Tutorials & Ideas

1. Cut Out Gift Wrap

highondiy

When I saw this, I said “Oh, WOW!” and then I wondered why I had never thought of such an easy idea myself. Adorable and easy, you can do this with pretty much any gift wrap you have as long as you have two layers. If your box is colored, you will not even need to wrap twice. Solids like this look great, but you can really use any wrapping paper you want. When you want to learn how to wrap a present without having to get fancy wrapping paper or spend lots of money, this DIY cut put gift wrap is a great place to start.

2. Furoshiki Gift Wrap

evermine

I first saw Furoshiki wrapping at this amazingly decadent Japanese department store in New York city, and ever since then, when I see it, I am reminded of its simple elegance. Furoshiki refers to a traditional japanese wrapping cloth, and you can use it to wrap just about anything – gift wrapping, shopping items and oddly shapes packages and presents. This is a great gift giving idea for a fun scarf, as the scarf itself can be used as the presentation for the gift it holds. When you want olearn how to wrap a present without wasting any wrapping paper, this reusable scarf wrap is our favorite idea.

3. Linoleum Hand Stamped Gift Wrap

cottonandflax

This clever wrapping idea is a lot of fun to make, at least for those of us who like carving and playing with ink pads. Created from linoleum stamps and inexpensive carving tools, these stamps will last forever so you can make your own signature designs for your wrapping paper. I think you could also go the traditional route I learned in preschool and make some stamps with carved carrots and potatoes for a similar effect, but you probably will not want to save those stamps, you know?

4. DIY Gift Bag Tutorial

hellosandwich

Warning: Before you look at this tutorial, know you are likely to be mad at yourself for not knowing this was possible. We understand you will question yourself, and how you could possibly spend 100’s of dollars on gift bags in your lifetime when this easy solution has always been there. It’s ok. We feel your pain.

Looking for cool DIY gift ideas for your friends and family, too?
Be sure to check out The Ultimate DIY Christmas Gifts list which includes:

DIY Present Ideas for Men
Awesome DIY Gift Ideas Mom and Dad Will Love
41 Fun DIY Gifts to Make For Kids
31 Best DIY Gift Ideas for Her
27 Expensive Looking Inexpensive DIY Gifts
27 MORE Expensive Looking Inexpensive DIY Gifts

5. How to Wrap A Gift

DIY JOY

Need present wrapping basics? Here is an awesome Youtube video tutorial that shows you exactly how to wrap a present with easy to follow step by step instructions. Follow along and learn how to wrap a gift like a pro. Be sure to Pin this handy guide, too, so you will have it on Christmas Eve when you need it! Even beginners will be wrapping presents quickly and beautifully if they follow along in this awesome video by One Kings Lane.

6. Holiday Gift Wrapped 3 Ways

liveitloveitmakeit

“One of my very favourite things about buying gifts, especially at this time of year is getting to wrap them up.” as said by Sammy, the blogger who wrapped these insanely adorable packages along with about 100 others on her blog. I love paper crafting, too, but WOW. I prefer to spend my time on paper crafts that don’t get destroyed and thrown away, but she has me rethinking this logic. After all, I spent hours on intricate gingerbread houses and carved pumpkins, why not add one more obsession to the mix. Who knew gift wrapping could be so, so pretty?

7. Magazine RIbbon Gift Bows

100layercake

I love DIY bloggers. These are my people. Who else could come up with such brilliant uses of ordinary items and then make them actually not look terrifying to make? I did go and try making one of these bows myself, and they are just as easy as they look. If you ask me, this one it totally worth your time. I end up squashing any bow I buy and do not use immediately, so nice fresh, homemade bows made from magazine and scrapbook paper odds and ends are my favorite new thing this holiday season.

8. Matchbox Suitcase Gift Wrap

craftster

I found the perfect DIY gift wrapping for someone going on a trip, a DIY tiny suitcase! I used a matchbox and plain paper, the tutorial was simple to follow. These DIY gift wrap suitcases are excellent for small items, such as jewelry, tickets, or money. They look great as dollhouse accessories as well. This DIY suitcase will not disappoint anyone on your gift list old or young.

9. Polka Dot Gift Wrap

stylecaster

I love DIY gift wrap and I have never found one easier than this polka dot plain paper idea. I had plenty of brown paper, that i use for just about everything and simply followed the tutorial using a pencil eraser dipped in craft paint. It makes a great project for children, using nontoxic paint of course.

10. Origami Paper Pyramid Gift Boxes

linesacross

Love free printables? I am a huge fan of making clever 3-dimensional things out of paper, but I had never seen some of the fabulous box designs on this blog. This one is for a pyramid gift box, which you can make in any color or pattern in which you can find heavyweight paper, and in any size you like. Impress them all with these, and all you need is some good colored card stock and your handy Exacto knife and hole punch to do it. Oh, fine, use scissors if you insist. I say go ahead and have lots of these ready for last minute gift wrapping. (Thank yourself later.)

11. Paper Cup Gift Box

gedane

More adorable gift boxes! Did I tell you I LOVE paper crafts? I guess I better start actually buying and making some Christmas gifts now that I see all these amazing wrapping tutorials. Thank you Pinterest. When I do not waste hours of my time hanging out with you, there are those special moments you inspire me to be a better person….

12. Santa Christmas Gift Bag

pazzles

This fun DIY Santa gift bag is from the Pazzles blog, which is a company that makes a high end scrapbook cutter I love. If you have a Cricut or other cutter, you can have the machine do the cutting and drawing for you. However, if you have not yet purchased a fancy machine to do your cutting for you, you can probably wing this one just fine.

13. Potato Stamped Gift Wrap

designsponge

Ha. You thought I was kidding about the potato stamps…Never. Just like preschool but better, you get to play with your food and have fun while wrapping gifts. Let your kids help out, too, if you have them. The more handmade looking, the better, I think.

14. Mini Wreath Tags

designsponge

Learn something new every day… Wired pine stem pipe cleaners. Who knew? Just when you thought you owned everything in the craft store, too. Foiled again. I guess I will be making yet another trip to Joann‘s this week to buy these, since Design Sponge has officially creating my “go to” gift wrapping idea for 2015. Easy but elegant, and clearly handmade, these personalized wreath tags are not your ordinary DIY gift tag.

15. Tartan Gift Wrap

sweetpaulmag

Leftover fabric scraps and gifts to wrap, too? This DIY gift wrapping idea uses leftover tartan fabric, but you can use anything you have, really. Vintage bowties purchased online or maybe even cheap thrift store bow ties can be used as lovely accents like these. For that matter, you can fashion some of your own from more leftover fabric and all that free time you must have on your hands. Send me pics and a bow tie making when you do, please 🙂

16. DIY Chalkboard Gift Wrap

paperandcake

OK, if I happen to get tired of my wreath tags (and I were not so OVER chalkboard by August this year) this will be my runner up “go to” wrapping idea. It wins second place because it requires one thing only, that I might not have around, which is black butcher paper. Buy a roll online and keep your white paint pen handy for last minute gift wrapping fun, literally. If you love to get creative and draw, this ones for you.

17. Rainbow Yarn Wrappings

ohhappyday

Jordan Ferney of Oh Happy Day stuns again with a rainbow DIY gift wrapping idea that is perfect for those who are afraid of making bows, but have lots of leftover yarn around like I do. If I am going to take the time to wrap a gift box, I kind of prefer people to know I did it (sad, but true) so these handcrafted yarn bows do the trick for me just fine. I think I’ll save this on my last minute gift wrapping ideas list, as it is virtually fail proof and requires no shopping, at least not for the knitting and crochet crowd.

18. Photo Gift Wrap

googlyeyesandglitter

Ever seen printed photo paper and thought it was either way too expensive to do or too daunting a technical task for you to accomplish? Check out this clear step by step method for getting beautiful big custom photo printed wrapping paper from Bri at Googly Eyes and Glitter. She pretty much holds your hand in the walk through so that you feel encouraged and empowered to try this yourself at home. (You need a few days to order prints from Staples but everything can be done easily online. No serious design skills required)