Hacks
Depending on the type of person you are, wrapping Christmas presents is either a total chore or an exciting challenge. Those in the former category are the type to begrudgingly smother their last-minute gifts in tin foil, old newspaper or sheets of A4 printing paper.
However, those in the latter category are the ones to lovingly cradle their gifts (which they more than likely bought several months in advance) in rustic brown paper, before decorating the perfect parcel with a mixture of twine, cinnamon sticks, candy canes, glitter, and evergreen foliage plucked fresh from the garden.
Credit: Hillier
Thus, your motive for reading this article is different depending on which of those two categories you fall in to. The former will want to know if there is a way that they can get the whole wrapping ordeal over faster than they ever have before, whilst the latter will be curious to know if there is a way they can wrap even more presents even more efficiently.
Thankfully, whatever your motive, this wrapping trick is guaranteed to help you shave valuable minutes off of the time you spend wrapping without sacrificing the appearance of your gift.
Credit: Real Simple
The technique comes from Japan, the home of origami, where the most intricate designs are made exclusively from paper and a fair bit of patience.
The technique first became popular last Christmas when a video recorded at a Takashimaya department store went viral. In the clip, the store worker wrapped presents in such a blur that many assumed the video had been sped-up. But, alas, that was not the case.
Credit: Mummy In Manolos
The technique sees the gift being placed diagonally on a sheet of wrapping paper. It requires only three folds of paper and three strips of tape - efficient and cost effective!
If you do it right, it should take only 15 seconds to wrap one gift, claims YouTuber BeatTheBush who spent a great deal of time perfecting the technique.
Credit: YouTube
Having learned the tricks of the trade, he took to YouTube to upload a tutorial video talking you through each and every step in slow-motion.
Get ready to take notes...
It is guaranteed to take some time to master the skill, but once you know how to do it, wrapping a gift should be second nature. Although, on saying that, it would be interesting to see this method be used on a bicycle or a drum kit... not a DVD boxset.
Just think, it will take longer for the receiver of your gift to peel the paper off the gift than it would for you to wrap it with this method!
If you can't quite get the hang of the Japanese method, then why not try some of our very own wrapping hacks...
So grab yourself a mince pie and get ready to learn a new trick this Christmas!
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