Gift wrapping is one of the things that can either be a joy to do or an absolute pain that you dread having to do. It is a joy because you are, generally, wrapping something special for someone who is special to you, be they friend or family. And it is a pain if you just were not blessed with gift wrapping skills. That said, even veteran wrappers are not immune to facing a challenge that causes them to hesitate.
Generally, these challenges take the form of oddly shaped gifts that plainly are just not as simple to do as a good old square or rectangular shaped gift. Well, fear not, as this article will provide you with an informative guide on wrapping one of the more challenging shaped gifts, this being circular or cylindrical shaped gifts.
Read on if you are in need of some assistance, using this guide to turn your misshapen wrappings into neat ones which will actually make the gift more visually presentable.
Circular and Cylindrical
First things first, let us clarify what we mean by circular gifts. How we understand circular gifts is basically anything that has a circular shape (as you correctly guessed), but we are also extending the thought to include cylindrical gifts. Cylindrical gifts are technically still a circle or related to one on account of their tube shape and circular ends (top and bottom).
That said, we will cover both a section on how to wrap a simple flat circular gift, say like a tin of cookies, and a section on how to wrap a more cylindrical shaped one, like a candle. It should be mentioned that the word circular generally refers to flat circle-shaped objects. Items such as basketballs are, strictly speaking, spherical objects and will not be mentioned in this article.
Cylindrical Gifts
Let’s start with cylindrical gifts first and go with the classic approach of using regular gift-wrapping paper. Start by unrolling a reasonably long section of wrapping paper and separating it from the roll by cutting a straight line. Place your gift on top of the loose sheet and start bringing both ends together. The goal is to bring both ends together so that they meet in the middle.
It is recommended you cut more material than you would think you would need as you want both ends to comfortably overlap. If you cut too much, you can simply tape it down and just roll the other end around it. You cannot do this if you cut too little, which you don’t want to risk as you might end up cutting just not enough paper.
Alternatively, you can always place the gift at one of the ends of the wrapping, start by taping that side to the gift, and then simply roll the gift up and tape to secure it. All that is left is to tape up the bottom and top. There is no flawless way to do these parts, but the pleating method is the neatest. It is a good idea to start with the bottom first as it matters less if it is a bit messy.
Start by roughly folding one of the sides into the center and then the other so that you create a firm base to wrap the top section. When done, place the bottom of the gift onto a flat surface and move on to the top section. What you want to do is pull the underlying flap into the center of the gift, all the while pressing down with your fingers.
After this:
- Grab the corners of the loose paper and gently pull it into the center, smoothing it down to create a pleat.
Repeat until the whole surface is covered. - Grab scissors and cut away any excess material, folding in any loose tabs and securing them down with tape.
Repeat for the bottom.
Alternatively, you can always use the twist method for the top section instead of taping it down. To do this, simply start by gathering the excess material together by replicating the pleating method and then giving it a quick twist. To finish, wrap a string around the neck and tie it to hold the twist.
Circular flat gifts
Now there are two ways to go about wrapping circular gifts. The first is almost exactly the same as the method used to wrap cylindrical gifts, only here you will adjust how much paper you will need for the shorter gift. Repeat the above method exactly and you should not have any problems.
The second method is to turn your circular gift into a square gift. What we mean by this is to place your circular gift into a box or frame that will allow you to wrap it as if it were an average square gift. Once you have your gift within the square frame/box, start by rolling out and measuring how much paper you will need.
Once done, place your gift upside down in the center of the wrapping sheet so that the top of the gift is in contact with the underside of the wrapping paper (the non-decorated side). Next, you will start by bringing one side into the center, folding and flattening it against the back of the gift.
Repeat this step with the opposite side of the wrapping paper so that both sides meet and overlap in the middle and finish by placing a few strips of tape to hold it together. At this point, you will only need to close the last two openings. Start by cutting excess material, leaving about 3-4 inches left (depends on how big the box frame is).
Afterward, you will want to fold the edges of each corner together so that they create a triangle shape; while doing this, start crimping and flattening the middle sections. Start placing tape along the middle sections to keep them closed. Following this, you can start flattening and bringing the triangles (corners) towards the middle section, again placing strips of tape on top to hold them down.
Final Thoughts
And there you have it, two (well technically three) approaches and methods you can use to wrap both cylindrical and circular gifts. We hope this guide has been useful and that you go on to create some truly eye-popping wrapped gifts!
