How to Wrap Beautiful Gifts with Minimal Materials

All you need to wrap beautiful gifts is:

1. paper bag
2. sharp scissors
3. jute twine or string
4. clear tape
5. a bit of nature

That’s it. Seriously – that’s all I ever really use to wrap gifts these days, which means I don’t need to keep bags or boxes or piles of wrapping paper for Christmas, kids birthdays, baby showers, adult birthdays, etc. Nor do I need heaps of ribbons or bows.

Simple can be SO elegant and it also makes it really easy. So today I’m going to blitz through explaining how I wrap gifts for ALL occasions.

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Skip the Wrapping Paper, Use Saved Paper Grocery Bags Instead

I use click and collect for grocery bags about once a month, and our local grocery store bags the groceries in paper bags. Usually, I save about 6-10 of them at any given time, which isn’t in line with most of my minimalist leanings, but it does come in handy sometimes!

I do NOT buy wrapping paper anymore. Personally, I don’t want to store the paper that I don’t end up using, and I don’t want to store paper that isn’t appropriate for all events. And I don’t want to pay for it! So I just skip it.

The only reason I’d consider getting wrapping paper is if I have a gift that is larger than what a brown paper bag size could fit. Of course, you could get creative and use two or three bags, but… I probably wouldn’t. That’s when I’d get the wrapping paper. But honestly, I’m not usually getting gifts that large, so usually the paper bag works perfect for me.

Pay Attention to the Corners and the Closure

Since this is a simple method for wrapping gifts, you will want to pay attention to details and make sure the folds are clean, the lines are straight, and the size of the paper wrapping the gift isn’t too bulky. So be sure to cut the grocery bag (once it is open flat) to the correct size. You want about 1/2 inch overlap when you wrap it around the gift, and you want the sides that will get folded over the ends of the gift to be about half the height of the gift plus another 1/2 inch or so.

Make sure to tape the paper securely at each step, and fold precisely so that the corners are sharp and clean.

I personally prefer the top-down, then sides, then bottom-up style of folding, but some people do the sides first and then the top-down and bottom-up. Whatever works best for you is cool!

Skip the Ribbons and Bows, Use Twine Instead

Twine is super handy in my house – we use it for necklaces for crafts that the girls do, we use it to tie up tomato plants, we use it for hanging things, and we use it for decorating gifts.

I like to do a classic criss-cross style for twine around a square or rectangular gift, with a simple bow in the middle.

But there’s a lot of variation you can do with this! You can put the intersection in the middle, or you can put it up toward a corner. Or you can also double-wrap the twine in one direction or both directions. You also could just single-wrap the twine and not worry about criss-crossing it. Or you could do a diagonal design on two corners opposite of each other.

There are options, folks, and you can customize (simply) to your heart’s desire!

Adorn the Gift with Nature

OK, this is the real key for how to wrap beautiful gifts in a very simple and minimalist way: adorn the gift with a little bit of nature.

I like to use whatever is seasonal and/or seems to fit the occasion: for Christmas, I love to use a sprig of holly or a bit of evergreen, and if I can find it, a couple little pinecone on a twig. For baby showers or birthdays, a bit of greenery and/or flowers are lovely. You can use whatever is on hand in a green space near you. Some of my favorites are daisies, hydrangeas, eucalyptus leaves, olive leaves, and here in New Zealand feijoa flowers are lovely for Christmas time. I also have some little dahlias that are starting to bloom.

Basically, the brown paper and the twine are a very neutral, subtle backdrop. So the bit of nature you use should contrast the neutral background. You can also feel free to mix it up with a couple different pieces of nature to make it more elaborate or interesting. Some greenery and a couple different colors of flowers can make a really pretty, elegant adornment for a gift. It’s kind of like getting a mini bouquet AND a gift all in one! That sounds like a great way to wrap a beautiful gift!

Of course: if you are an early-wrapper, you’ll want to do all the steps EXCEPT this one until the morning of the gifts being given, or the night before (depending on what exactly your bits of nature entail). Greenery, particularly evergreen-type greenery may last for a couple days, but flowers will probably not. So you’ll need to plan time to do those very shortly before you give the gift away.

Use Pretty Handwriting

This is a personal priority of mine: I like to write directly on the paper bag to indicate who the gift is for. And I try to do it with a really smooth pen and careful penmanship. If you want to get creative, you can look up some youtube tutorials for hand lettering to jazz it up a bit. You could also add in a bit of simple doodle-style artwork to make it even more unique and special. (This is a youtube example for simple winter-themed holiday doodles).

Takeaways…

So, to recap, you can skip replacing your wrapping paper as you use it up. And you can skip replacing your ribbons and bows as you use them up. Keep a handful of paper bags on hand and some basic twine (I like jute, personally). Make sure your scissors are sharp, and you have clear tape. And also make sure you have some daylight to go out and “forage” for some pretty pieces of nature.

And if you need some lists of gift ideas, I’ve got you covered for those, too! Check out this posts for gift ideas:

Baby Shower Gift Ideas (Useful and NOT clothes, blankets, or stuffed animals)
Budget-Friendly Gifts for Minimalist Leaning Moms (under $30)
Mid-Range Gifts for Minimalist Leaning Moms (between $30 and $100)

Below is a video of how I wrapped this gift, so you can see the process:

[VIDEO link here of gift being wrapped]

Let me know in the comments below what kind of a gift-wrapper you are. Are you simple and elegant, or do you prefer to deck the gift out with all kinds of bright colored, pre-produced adornments? And let me know how you feel about storing gift wrapping stuff. Are you OK with it, you’ve got a good system down, or does this minimalist approach appeal to you?