5 Tips To Save Time Wrapping Presents

Every Christmas I spend a lot of time wrapping presents so over the years I have come up with a few tricks to make it faster. I enjoy putting on the Christmas music, sipping on some bubbly or a snowball (mmm love a bit of Warninks Advocaat at Christmas) and getting ready for a big wrapping session. The challenge is that since I’ve had children the number of presents I have to wrap has increased and the time I have to wrap them has decreased so I have to be smarter in how I do things. These tips will help everyone who struggles to wrap presents.

A selection of Christmas presents


Time Saver Tip 1: Wrap Smarter


Any time you can save while wrapping a present adds up if you have a lot to do. To make gift wrapping faster and easier I use a handy paper cutter and pre-cut sellotape. I’ve had my paper cutter about 10 years and it’s much faster to cut the wrapping paper than scissors (it’s normally a straighter cut too). Mine is from Scotch, but is similar to this one (affiliate link). I’ve always thought these tape dispensers (affiliate link) look really handy too, but I normally just pre-cut short bits of tape and stick them to the first plastic thing I find. 

A close up of a paper cutter and pieces of cellotape on a Fisherprice shape sorter

Time Saver Tip 2: Ditch The Labels


I have some family members who have given up on labelling their presents and they have to spend time on Christmas day feeling them to try and remember which gift is for each person. This adds a certain level of entertainment to present opening, but a smarter way is this personalised wrapping paper from Pretty Gifted I was sent to review. Not just for Christmas, you can choose the colour of the paper, font style, colour and size, an icon and the text. I chose a lovely Christmassy red paper with gold writing and wrote "Merry Christmas G" so I could use it for my partner. You can write any short message on it such as: “To M, Love Mummy” or even “You smell of sprouts” depending on how nice you want to be to the recipient. You get a sheet of thick quality paper as well as a label and a pen.

I’ve found each label takes up to a minute to write so using personalised paper or preprinted stickers saves a huge amount of time.

Personalised Christmas wrapping paper, a silver pen and a label

Time Saver Tip 3: Get It Prewrapped


Lots of shops (physical and online) offer gift wrapping services, even Amazon (just click gift options). Outsourcing the gift wrapping can cost a bit if you have lots of presents and means you have less control over the end look, but it will save you heaps of time.


Time Saver Tip 4: Bag It 


Gift Bags have long been a great way to make presents look smart without needing any gift wrapping skills, but they are also a great way to save time. To make sure the present isn’t seen before it’s time to be unwrapped I normally wrap it quickly in a sheet or two of tissue paper. Other options include putting scrunched up tissue paper on top of the present or sticking the bag closed. 

A present wrapped in purple tissue paper and a paper bag

Time Saver Tip 5: Box It


A box can be sealed more securely than a bag making it easier to keep the present hidden, it’s also less obvious from the shape what is inside. Filling the box with Christmassy foil lametta or shredded tissue paper turns opening the present into a game of lucky dip and protects the contents.

A Christmas themed box with thin strips of purple foil lametta half hiding the presents

Have you got any tips on how you make wrapping presents easier?

***Disclosure: We were gifted the personalised wrapping paper from Pretty Gifted for inclusion in this post, but all thoughts, views etc are my own***

A present wrapped in red and gold personalised paper

The header image with time text over the top


4 comments

  1. Thank you for the tips, this is very handy especially as I now have three children to wrap for, plus their daddy and our families xxx

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  2. I have never seen or heard of pre-cut sellotape. What a genius idea!

    Thanks for all the tips :o)

    #TriedTested

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  3. Fab ideas! I love the look of the personalised wrapping paper. It makes the present a little bit more special too x

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  4. Some fab ideas here - although I actually enjoy wrapping presents! I couldn't do without a tape dispenser though, definitely an essential for me. And I didn't even know personalised wrapping paper existed! #TriedTested

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