With just a few days left to go until Christmas day, you've hopefully got all your Christmas presents sorted. Now all you have to do is wrap them.
Easier said than done.
Most parents will know that finding a time to sit down and undertake this task can be near to impossible. Children are, by nature, very nosey and will probably try and sneak a peak at what you're wrapping. A lot of parents will resort to wrapping presents once the kids have gone to bed, but it's still a fairly long and boring task.
There are some short cuts for easy wrapping though...
Wrap it in a vintage scarf
This one is inspired by Lush, who have started offering customers the opportunity to have their purchases wrapped in a vintage scarf rather than the usual boxes and wrapping paper. Eco-friendly and easy to do, the scarfs can then be reused by the recipient. Great for older recipients.
Sweetie Tin
Got a small but difficult present to wrap? Pick up a tin of the recipient's favourite sweets or chocolates, and pop your present in the middle and cover it up in confectionary. Someone in my family did this to me a few years ago, and it was a lovely surprise to discover a pretty watch amongst the Quality Street!
Make your own wrapping paper
If you're helping the kids wrap presents and have a little bit of time, why not get them to create their own paper? All you need is some plain wrapping paper, a potato and some paint. Carve the desired shape into half of the potato (stars go down particularly well) and coat with paint, before decorating the paper with the pattern. You could always leave the kids to do this, if they're old enough, whilst you go away and wrap their presents.
Gift bags and tissue paper
Gift bags are your best friends at Christmas. I know it's lazy, but if you pop the present in and tape up the top of the bag, it's still technically wrapped! Also, tissue paper is a super quick way to wrap as you don't need to bother with tape and perfect folding. Just wrap and pop it in the bag.
Foil that wrapping
If all else fails, follow the example of Smithy from Gavin and Stacey. Wrap your gifts in kitchen foil...