A Craft-Lover's Guide To Personalised Gift-Wrapping

Sending a gift to a friend or relative is, to most of us, a relatively mundane process which requires nothing more than a box, a label and a reliable courier company. We buy the gift, we wrap it, address it and leave it to the delivery experts to do their bit. The recipient then opens it once it’s delivered, looks at it, smiles with pleasure and moves on. Everybody’s happy, right?

Well, yes and no. Doing the bare minimum gets the job done, of course, but a little effort could have made the whole process a far more special one. It wouldn’t have taken a great deal of work to make the gift really stand out from the rest, and to have changed that ‘smiles with pleasure’ to a ‘beams with delight’. The next time you send a present to someone far away, why not make it more personalised, more attractive and more memorable?

Perhaps the most important consideration is the receptacle which is holding the gift. The plainest cardboard boxes provide the protection that’s needed for despatch, of course, but they can be made to look far more attractive by using personalised wrapping paper. There are several companies which will print messages and individual names on the paper, so your box can now feature a bespoke message that really stands out.

Needless to say, most ordinary boxes are of a standard brown or white colour, but you can brighten up any despatch by using brighter, happier shades. And how far you go with the colour is entirely up to you. Shocking pink? No problem. Sultry red? Absolutely. Neon yellow? Of course! The only limits in this area are in your own imagination, so try to think more in terms of creativity and less in terms of practicality.

Always put the effort in

A matching gift tag and perhaps even a shiny ribbon will really complete the look. Remember, when it’s time to give gifts a standard parcel delivery doesn’t have to be mundane and run of the mill. The more effort you put into the despatch of the item, the more likely it is that the recipient will remember it. Whether he or she if only living a few miles away or is on the other side of the world, this is one present which will always be special.

Many people go the extra mile when considering the actual contents of the parcel as well. Obviously, the chosen item needs to be secure and protected for the delivery process, especially if it’s a rather fragile item, but that doesn’t mean you can’t think a little outside the box when dealing with something that’s inside the box. A sprinkling of confetti, some shredded tissue paper or maybe even artificial flower petals with the recipient’s name on them could all be used to make it more individual.

Another good idea is to use not one box but several. A series of containers placed inside each other like Russian dolls would make the unveiling process an unusual experience. Each box could have a hand-written personal message written or printed on it, giving that special someone a chance to see how much he or she is loved. It doesn’t take too much imagination to make gift-giving a hugely enjoyable event, so next time you send a parcel why not turn a special occasion into an extra-special one?