Worst Wrapping Mistakes - How Not to Wrap Presents

Even though you spent hours and hours trying to secure your presents are hidden beneath mounds of tissue paper and bows, your recipient is likely doing all of the work when they attempt to open it. It's awkward enough having to open presents of questionable contents in front of your whole family gathering, but it's even worse when you can't get it open in a timely fashion. The gift-giver is waiting anxiously, the kids are getting restless and spoiled with jeers of "can't I open mine now?," and still you can't even get the stupid bow off the top. But the solutions to problems always start with you. So here are 5 tips on how not to wrap your presents this year for a fun holiday experience.

1. Tape Fiends

If you are a tape fiend, knock it off. It's enough that the package is wrapped, but you don't have to tape the box shut too. Although some of us feel like this will keep the gift safe, it will make it nigh impenetrable. You only need a few pieces of tape on each opening to secure the present inside. Don't laminate it in tape, and especially keep the wrapping simple for children who don't have the dexterity yet to use a chainsaw to open their gifts.

2. Ribbon Mania

We know you learned the square knot in boy or girl scouts and want to show it off, but let's be reasonable here. It looks nice enough when you wrap the present in a ribbon like those old-fashioned packages we see on display, but it's not practical or beautiful enough to be acceptable on anything that is supposed to be freed from it's paper prison. It's often too difficult to pull the bow off by sliding it, and the use of a knife is required. Just use a stick on bow and call it wrapped this year.

3. Single Knots

With tissue paper wrapped gifts, you need to be careful you don't fall into the double knot routine. Gathered tissue paper wrapping only needs a single knot and bow, so that the recipient doesn't have to shred and yank to get it off. It sort of lessens the holiday cheer to fight off one of these during a family gathering.

4. Lazy Wrapping

If you can avoid someone figuring out that it is a statute of an elephant, than by all means-do. Nothing looks worse than the visible impression of the trunk, four legs, and large elephant-like body through your poor use of wrapping paper. It doesn't really count as wrapped when pieces of the present are awkwardly sticking out of the wrapping job. It's also a gift-wrapping sin to use 'peanuts' to cushion your gifts. It looks like you just took your computer out and then put their gift in and re-taped it. This causes a huge mess on the floor and is very hard to collect everything up in a reasonable timeframe.

5. Eternal Wrapping

It was funny the first time, but wrapping boxes within boxes is pretty stale. It's also irritating when you rip open a present only to find that there is another layer of wrapping paper. Avoid folding over the wrapping paper multiple times when you wrap, or you'll be getting a stale joke next year.