13 May HOW TO WRAP WEIRD-SHAPED GIFTS USING CEREAL BOXES (WHILE CHANNELING CÉLINE SS14)

I know, ridiculous headline. But you too can achieve all these things in one crafting moment. Read on…

I hate it when I have to wrap weird-shaped things that can’t be wrapped neatly. Sure, you can use a pre-made gift bag, but they always come in jaunty colours and glossy paper which cheapens the whole thing, so I set about to make my own gift bags. They look so much more expensive than they really are.

Basically you need a box to act as a template. You wrap paper around the box as you would a present, then remove the box leaving a cute bag shape. I used various boxes from my pantry to make different-sized bags.

I made my own wrapping paper using plain butchers paper with ink brush strokes because if it’s good enough for Céline it’s good enough for Ladyland. I added a stripe of plain neon washi tape to keep it simple. No bows necessary for this one.

• Plain paper (I used this trusty Ikea plain roll), or you could use wrapping paper.
• Drawing ink (I used Liquitex)
• A wide paint brush for bold brush strokes, the stiffer the better
• A box that suits the size of your gift
• Scissors
• A glue stick
• Washi tape

1. Paint large brush strokes onto your paper. Small semi-circles  or straight lines look good. Keep the shapes really simple.

2. Take your box and start to wrap it like you would a present but instead of taping the first join, glue it with a glue stick all the way along the under-side edge of the top sheet of paper so it joins together like a paper bag. Don’t wrap it too tight or you won’t be able to remove your box.

3. Fold the paper at the end of the box as you would a present and tape it securely.

4. Carefully remove the box and you will be left with a paper bag.

5. Fold the side of the bag so that the edges meet to create a seam down the centre of the side panel, like a gift bag.

6. Add your weirdly shaped gift and fold over the top neatly.

7. Finish with washi tape or glue.

Photography & styling (wrapping paper): Emma Scott-Child