Make gift bags with wrapping paper

　　The Christmas holiday officially begins. For a lot of us, this means plans are being made, preparations are underway, and holiday decorations are infusing homes with all kinds of festive flair.

　　Of course, the holidays also mean that a season of merry gift-giving is before us. While a lot of folks are fine going the traditional wrapping paper and gift tag route, others are seeking more creative alternatives.

　　Perhaps you want to save some trees and are looking for a more sustainable option, or maybe you’re simply tired of the same ol’-same ol’ and want to spice things up a bit this year.

　　What you’ll need:

　　Wrapping paper

　　Tape

　　Scissors

　　Hole puncher (optional)

　　Ribbon (optional)

　　Step 1: Measure the width of your gift. Once you know how much paper you need, fold the wrapping paper in half. Seal with tape and fold the bottom end up.

　　Step 2: Open the bottom end so the inside of the paper is revealed. Fold the left and right edges in, then fold the top and bottom in as well. Use tape to seal all of the folds.

　　Step 3: Flip the bag and open. Place your gift in and fold the top over.

　　Step 4: Punch holes and insert your ribbon to seal.

　　To make sure that the gift bag you create holds up, keep these things in mind.

　　Your bag should be twice as tall as it is wide.If something feels flimsy, add more tape!

　　These gift bags are not recommended for items that are extremely tall and/or heavy.

　　Medium weight wrapping paper is ideal because it’s sturdy, but not difficult to fold.

　　You can always add a piece of cardboard to the bottom of the bag to make it more sturdy.

　　Now that you’ve learned how to make a gift bag out of wrapping paper, it’s time to decorate it! You can use fun ribbon, washi tape, letters, gift tags, candy, stickers and even a pretty photo.

　　How to wrap and pack a backpack as a gift.Can you make a backpack look good when you wrap it as present? Backpacks make such great, useful and long term gifts, but it can be tricky to wrap so it looks amazing when its opened.

　　In the run up to a birthday, Christmas or in the gifting season, look out for packaging paper and bubble wrap coming through your door with other deliveries. We a lot of high quality paper and foam is often thrown out! You can reuse them to great effect

　　Take 3 minutes to add three or four little notes in the different pockets. Keep them short and sweet e.g.: “Keep your passport safe in here!” “Your laptop lives in here!” “Water bottle here” or include a little handwritten note to let them know you’re thinking about how they will use it. This is a totally cost-free way of enhancing any gift.

　　There are a few little things that stick out on a backpack like straps and buckles. They can be little difficult to wrap. Wrap one piece of bubble wrap or foam around the 3D packed backpack to make it into one smooth shape. This way, there will be no odd corners that could break the wrapping paper.

　　Now that your backpack is packed out in 3D form and has bubble wrap around it, it will be much easier to wrap. For larger backpacks, I suggest using one long piece which goes from the front to the back. You then tape the paper to join up down each side and along the base.

　　That's how to pack and wrap and backpack so it not only looks good, but so it delights the traveller you're giving it to.