How to Wrap Awkwardly Shaped Presents with the Gift Wrap Guru, Jane Means

Known as the ‘Gift Wrap Guru’, Jane Means, is a gift wrapping specialist and adviser who has worked alongside some of the most exclusive luxury brands in the world. A regular on TV and an acclaimed author, she has literally written the book on gift wrapping (it’s called Gift Wrapped) so certainly knows all there is to know on how to gift wrap Christmas presents.

One of the most stressful parts of the festive season, once you’ve carefully selected all the perfect gifts for your loved ones you still have the arduous task of wrapping them ahead of you. It’s easy to quickly get lost under a mound of glittery paper, ribbons and sticky tape and even the best efforts can descend into chaos if you’re dealing with tricky present shapes and unusual gifts.

A bottle of bubbly, someone’s favourite wine or even a reusable water bottle is an ever popular choice for Christmas presents. But the asymmetrical shape can make them a headache to wrap and present stylishly.

Items that are tall such as bottles are sometimes tricky to wrap. Flexible materials such as tissue, cellophane, fabric, and crepe paper are often better to use than wrapping paper as they mould around the shape. I love to use tissue and cellophane as it’s easily available and can be recycled

Many common Christmas presents from tasty biscuits and chocolates, to skincare and beauty products come in tins which can be exceptionally hard to wrap beautifully.

Circular or hexagonal tins or jars can be very challenging to wrap for many so I prefer to use a good quality paper for this so you can avoid any accidental tears.

No home is complete without a dash of greenery, making plants and flowers a fabulous gift idea for any occasion but with soil, unusual pots and the plants themselves getting in the way they can be a nightmare to wrap.

• Plants often have soggy bases and can be troublesome to wrap
• A paper tablecloth moulds around the plant pot easily. They are extremely versatile and they don’t dissipate like wet tissue
• Available from supermarkets and department stores they are inexpensive and come in an array of colours

Vouchers allow your loved ones to buy exactly what they want for Christmas presents, or are the perfect gift for those that have everything. But how do you make the flat little square look appealing for gift giving?

Items that are flat or floppy such as ties, socks, picture frames, gift vouchers and clothing can be tricky to tackle. But they can easily be wrapped by making an envelope style pouch with good quality wrapping paper.

• You will need an oblong of paper with enough paper to go around the flat object and approximately 4 cm each side
• Fold over the long sides and with some clever folding and double sided tape you can easily transform any off cuts of giftwrap into versatile pouches for your gifts
• Accessorise with ribbon and embellishment and voila, you have a gift wrapped masterpiece