• Basic tools: sharp scissors, tape, paper, ribbons and bows

• Extras to make the packages prettier: yardstick, pencil, sharp knife, tissue paper, hole punches, candy canes, leaves or old Christmas cards

• Don’t use paper sold in folded squares since it can have creases where you don’t want them. Wrapping paper in tubes is better

• Pick a workspace with enough room to spread out

• Make sure to remove price tags

• Don’t spare the tape. It may make it a pain to unwrap, but that’s half the fun, and it will look better

• Oddly shaped present? That can involve plenty of difficult folds. Go for it if you favor odd shapes under the tree. Or find a big box and put the present inside. That adds more drama to the unwrapping.

Can the bag
Gift-wrap pros say it’s easy to do a first-class job

AUBURN – Those holiday gift bags, they’re just there for the lazy and the unimaginative.

And they don’t even look good, according to veteran gift-wrapper Norm Davis.

A volunteer for 13 years at the Edward Little Music Association’s gift-wrapping booth at the Auburn Mall, he said wrapping a gift is really very simple.

“Just take your time to make it look good,” he advised. “Then, hide the rough edges with tape and ribbon.”

Davis and fellow gift-wrappers offered tips this week for the wrapping-challenged.

They have the expertise. Davis estimated the booth volunteers have smoothed three miles’ worth of paper onto boxes since they started the program. Their customers are equally divided between men and women.

Tom Persico of Portand, stopping by the mall to pick up a small gift for his brother, said he’s normally a great gift-wrapper.

“That’s when I have the time and the space to do it properly,” he said. Short of both, he handed his package off to Ellie Wheeler, a 24-year volunteer.

“Plus, if I did it, it wouldn’t look as good as what this lady is doing,” Persico said.

Ann McKenney of Auburn, shopping with her granddaughter, was buying several gifts and wanted them to look extra-special. “But I’m a great gift-wrapper, too,” she said.

Anyone can be, Wheeler said.

The music boosters’ booth has four large tables set aside for gift-wrapping. That’s plenty of room to spread out, but even so, it can get crowded during a weekend shopping rush.

“I usually just let the others wrap and I find boxes and get bows so they don’t have to move around too much,” Davis said.

For Wheeler, space is important. At home, she likes to spread out her materials on the kitchen table.

“It’s just big enough to spread everything out, and the height is right for my back,” she said.

Getting the right supplies is next – scissors, tape and paper are the basics, but ribbons and bows are important, too. Wheeler prefers to use hardier “scarf ribbon,” the kind available in sewing shops, to wrap her presents at home. It’s not as shiny as gift-store ribbons but adds a neat touch.

“I just wrap the ribbon around the box and then tie it like a shoelace,” she said.

At home, Wheeler likes to cut wrapping paper with a butcher knife.

“But I don’t use one here,” she said. “How would I look carrying a butcher knife through the mall?”

Haste and waste

The biggest mistake novice gift-wrappers make is hurrying.

“The first thing is to measure your present against the paper,” Davis said. “You don’t want to use too much, and you don’t want to waste the paper, either.”

Next in importance are the creases. At home, Wheeler folds over the rough edges of the paper and uses the blunt side of her butcher knife to give the paper a sharp edge. Then she carefully folds the paper over the sides, making sure each corner is equally neat.

“And don’t spare the tape,” she said. “Tape down every corner if you can. They’ll notice when they unwrap, because it’ll take them longer to get through. But it’ll look good in the meantime.”

The one place she’d rather not use tape is on the ribbons. She’s a firm believe in wrapping the present in a single piece of ribbon and tying it off. If it’s a thin ribbon, like a scarf ribbon or the typical gift-store ribbed variety, she’ll cut a notch in the end or use a blade to curl it. If it’s a wide ribbon, she likes to nick the ends and shred the ribbon up to the knot – making it look like a cat’s whiskers.

“But I don’t have any one thing I do all the time,” she said. “I kind of make it up each time as I go along. Whatever feels right for the package.”

Finishing touches

Wheeler likes to recycle her holiday materials. She cuts up the previous year’s Christmas cards to decorate the current year’s presents. Sometimes, they become gift cards. Other times, they’re just decorative.

Candy canes, leaves or anything that fits can be tied or taped onto a present – as long as it looks nice.

“I collect things all year long,” she said. “It’s fun. You can get really creative.”

In general, bigger boxes are easier to wrap than smaller boxes, according to these experts. Smaller packages can be frustrating, and neat creases can be nearly impossible.

That’s only true up to a point, however. One year, Wheeler had to help wrap a toboggan.

“I don’t remember quite how we did it, but we did,” she said. “It took a while, too. But it looked nice.”

And one year, Davis wrapped up an engagement ring in a cedar chest.

“That’s probably the biggest thing we’ve ever had to wrap,” Wheeler said.