Playing with paper has always given me a great deal of joy and satisfaction. As a child, I loved craft, and experimented all the time. With less time to dedicate to cutting and pasting now, one thing I make sure to do, is wrap presents for friends and family. For me, that's as much fun as picking out a gift, and is just as important.
Gift Wrapping
2016 - Present
I often find myself without wrapping paper, and I happily make do with materials I have lying around. As much as I love traditionally wrapped presents with ribbons and bows, sometimes the experiments turn out well.
I dreaded wrapping cylindrical presents (cookies, anyone?) for ages, until I discovered pleats!
Japanese pleats are possibly one of the easiest ways to make regular sheets of coloured paper look like so much more! I play around with direction, mixing sheets of paper when I don't have a single sheet the right size, and finishing everything with a giant bow. The tiny note cards I stocked up on while in Tokyo add the loveliest touch.
I'm amazed at the amount one can do with paper, and I've been meaning to build these skills a bit. Presents are a great place to experiment.
Children are my favourite to wrap for, since you may miss with the present, but in all likelihood, the wrapping will be a hit. I add bits of play where I can- pie slices that double up as pockets for a note, for example.
And when you can't find wrapping paper- just print it out. I discovered archives of exquisite, free-for-use maps which I used as paper. Maps of my brother's favourite places wrapped his birthday presents, and it was more appropriate than any paper I could have bought.