Joules Tries the Art of Gift Wrapping

s soon as I received Wanda Wen’s new book, The Art of Gift Wrapping, I knew I’d have to try some of her fantastic, eco-friendly wrapping ideas.  But was her guidance enough to turn my 2nd-grade-level skills at gift wrapping into something approaching proficiency?

Getting ready for some gift wrapping action. (More photos after the jump.)

I’ve got my supplies ready: Wanda Wen’s book The Art of Gift Wrapping, wrapping paper, a tape measure, and the gift: a copy of Strong Bad Sings. The wrapping paper is actually a page taken from an extra Great Books Foundation spring catalog I had laying around. Wen suggests using old magazines for wrapping paper because the high gloss paper looks great on packages, and because it’s a way of recycling.

I’ve cut the paper to the appropriate size for Wen’s diagonal wrap technique. This style is designed to use a minimal amount of paper.  I found myself wondering if it would actually fit all the way around the package.

Thank God for Wen’s clear instructions. I managed to do a decent job of wrapping the CD, despite the small amount of paper used. The package also stays neatly wrapped without any tape holding it in place. Since Wen advocates re-using household and throw-away items for gift wrapping, I used some extra bias-binding from an old sewing project for ribbon, and tied the package in a diagonal pattern to hold down the one loose flap of wrapping paper. I’m pretty impressed with how nicely this turned out!

Full-sized images can be found on our picasa albums.