More Japanese Gift Wrap Techniques With A Modern Twist

After watching some Japanese Gift Wrap Techniques, I really wanted to try them out on a few birthday gifts for Memphis.

With a name like Memphis Belle, you know my granddaughter receives lots of red, white, and blue items and for her birthday, what is more perfect than a patriotic bathing suit?

So, I added tissue paper to a small box and placed her little two-piece suit in it, folded up the tissue paper, and placed the lid on top.  Then, I was ready for some more gift wrap techniques with pleats.

This is not nearly as difficult as you might imagine.  It’s really quite simple but doesn’t it look unique?  The little pleats are vertical but the pocket is horizontal.  You can see the fold of the pocket in the picture.  There, you can tuck a few faux flowers or a little card.  Isn’t this clever?

 

Supplies Needed:

• 1 roll of gift wrap
• scissors
• clear invisible tape
• double-sided tape
• ribbon

Gift Wrap Techniques How To

So, lay your paper out on a flat surface.  Before cutting, visually measure enough extra at the top and bottom of the box to fold up and cover the ends sufficiently.  Then, make the cut.  Loosely fold up and determine how deep you want to make the pocket.  Better to have a little excess than not enough, right?

 

Lay the box on top of the paper so the pocket opening on the right side will be facing upward.  Fold the left edge over 1/2″ and crease the fold.

 

 

 

 

Fold again and crease about two-inches from the first fold.

 

 

 

 

 Turn the wrapping paper over to the right side.  Fold the edge of the 2nd fold toward you about halfway between the 1st and 2nd folds to make a pleat.

Smooth the paper with your hand, which will effectively crease the fold underneath.

Fold the 3rd fold toward you in the same way, creating another pleat.  Repeat with the 4th fold and you should have a pleated paper like the example below.

Next, place clear tape across the pleats on the reverse side of the paper to hold the pleats in place.  Set the box on the wrong side of the paper.  Pull the pleated side up over the box and position the pleats about three-quarters of the way or a little more, across the width of the box.  Crease the paper along the top and bottom edge on the left side of the box.

 

Fold the right edge of the paper up and over the box.  Then, fold the loose edge back and mark where to cut off the excess paper.  This edge will be placed under the pleated edge.

 

 

 

 

Fold the paper back where you marked it, hold and crease all along that line, creating a straight line to use for cutting.  Trim off the excess.  

 

Place the box, right side up, on the paper.  Be sure the left side of the box lines up with the creases made earlier!  Align the crease on the right edge of the box and fold the paper over the top of the box, as in the first picture below.

Fold the left edge of the paper with the pleats over the top of the box, overlapping the left edge.  Place a piece of double-sided tape along the edge of the half-inch fold.  (You can see that I got the tape closer than that!  Later, when I wanted to fold the edge up for more definition, I had to reposition the tape slightly.)  

 

Smooth the edge down securing the tape to the paper underneath.  It should look similar to this.  

 

 

 

Flip the box over so the top of the box is down with the pleats on the bottom.  First, fold in both sides, crease along the edges of the box.

Fold the flap down and crease along the bottom edge of the box.  Trim off the excess paper along the fold line.  Fold the bottom flap up over the top edge of the box and crease.  Fold the flap back down.  Smooth down the layers with your fingers and apply two-sided tape along the folded edge.

 

Repeat on the opposite end. Give the pleated sections more definition by flaring the edges up with your thumb and forefinger. 

 

 

 

 

You could add a more elaborate bow here but I chose to add a simple bow to make the pleats more of the star of this gift wrap.  (My youngest son, kiddingly, told me that these simple bows were not up to my usual bows.)  The bright turquoise ribbon was chosen to echo a color in the contrast print used for the other boxes.  My intent was to make an envelope from this wrap and tuck it into the pocket.  That did not get done… 

 

 

 

 

You can find more Japanese gift wrap techniques here ►Japanese Gift Wrap Technique.