Creative last-minute gift wrapping ideas to do at home

By Lauren Heskin
22nd Dec 2023

Creative last-minute gift wrapping ideas to do at home

So you've been too busy having a good time to get around to the gift wrapping. But now, it's hard to find any nice wrapping paper left in any of the shops and you're starting to wonder if that balloon-covered paper with "Happy Birthday" scrawled all over it will do. Fear not, there's plenty you can do with items you've likely got lying around the house, or that can at least be picked up at your local shop.

Here are three simple ways to festoon your gifts that will be admired even before they see what’s inside.

A Stamp of Approval

This is a super simple way of decorating any kind of plain paper. Make a star stamp on your pencil rubber and join the dots to create your very own constellation.

What You’ll Need:

Plain paper in any colour
An eraser or a eraser-topped pencil
Ink pen in any colour
Sharp knife or scalpel
A ruler

Carefully cut the eraser into a star shape using the knife or scalpel. Then simply cover it in the pen ink (or dip it in paint if you have any) and dot paper with stars. Using the ruler and pen, connect all the stars to create a constellation.

Beribboned Beauties

Ideal for recycling last year’s Christmas cards, go graphic with some selective colour pops and reams of ribbon.

What You Will Need:

Ribbon
Card, coloured, patterned or white
A scissors of scalpel
Plain paper (newspaper can also make for a nice alternative)
Spray paint (optional)
Cellotape or double-sided sticky tape

Carefully cut out the stars from the card using a scissors or scalpel. You can use last year’s Christmas cards or any coloured or plain card. If you have any spray paint (we had some gold leftover from our wreath-making), you can spray the cards. Tape onto plain paper (or newspaper) and then finish off with some brightly coloured ribbon.

A Cut Above

This one takes a steady hand and is not a child-friendly craft, but the effect is quite lovely. As it’s a little more effort, reserve for someone quite special.

What You Will Need

Plain paper
A scalpel
White card
Ribbon (optional)

On the underside of your paper, draw a series of stars. Using a scalpel, cut cut along the outline of one side of the stars. Tape the card over the paper to cover the stars. This will give the finished look some contrast, and won’t reveal the gift inside! Flip over and bend each star-half forward for a three-dimensional effect. Finish with ribbon if you like.

WORDS Sheenagh Green PHOTOGRAPHY Naomi Gaffey