How to put tissue paper in a gift bag
How to put tissue paper in a gift bag
Tissue paper does two jobs: it hides the contents, and it turns a bag into something that looks finished. Both are undone by stuffing it in flat, which is what most people do.
Three methods, none of which takes more than a minute.
First, the order of operations
Gift in first, tissue afterwards. This is the step people get backwards.
Tissue placed first gets crushed flat under the gift and does nothing except pad the bottom. Tissue placed after the gift fills the space above it and covers it, which is the entire point.
The exception is a fragile item, which gets one sheet loosely underneath as padding and the rest on top.
Method one: the pinch and puff
The standard, and the fastest.
- Take one sheet, lay it flat.
- Pinch it in the middle and lift, so it hangs like a bell.
- Push the pinched point down into the bag beside the gift, letting the edges stand up above the rim.
- Repeat with two or three more sheets in different positions.
- Fluff the standing edges outwards with your fingers.
Three to four sheets suits a medium bag. The finished shape should be irregular — tissue arranged too symmetrically reads as effort rather than style.
Method two: the fan
Neater and slightly more formal, good for a corporate gift or anything where you want it to look deliberate.
Stack two or three sheets, fold the stack in half lengthways, then concertina it along the short edge in inch-wide folds. Slide the folded stack into the back of the bag with the folds standing up, and open the top out into a fan.
Uses fewer sheets and gives a flatter, more architectural top.
Method three: the wrap
For a gift you want to feel wrapped rather than dropped in.
Lay two sheets crossed on a table, set the gift in the middle, gather all the corners up over it and twist gently. Lower the whole bundle into the bag with the twist standing above the rim. The gift is genuinely wrapped, and the top of the bag is filled at the same time.
This is the method for anything that should not be identifiable by shape through the opening.
How many sheets
Roughly, per bag: two for a small bag, three or four for a medium, four to six for a large. Multi-colour sets that arrive with a bag usually contain the right number, which is one of the reasons those sets sell.
More is not better. A bag over-filled with tissue cannot be opened without pulling handfuls out, and the gift ends up on the floor.
Colour
Two combinations that always work: tissue matching the bag for a single-colour, restrained look; and tissue contrasting sharply for a brighter one. What does not work is tissue slightly different from the bag — it reads as a mistake rather than a choice.
White tissue in a kraft bag is the safest combination in existence and looks considered rather than plain.
Be careful with strongly coloured tissue against pale fabric: dye can transfer if anything gets damp. For clothing, white or cream tissue only.
Adding a card
Tuck it into the tissue at the front, standing up, so it is the first thing seen. A card at the bottom of a bag under a gift gets found while unpacking the recycling.
Where a bag arrives with a card in the set, that is what it is sized for.
Making a bag stand up
An awkwardly shaped gift makes a bag lean. Two fixes: put a piece of card cut to the base size in the bottom, or add a rolled sheet of tissue in each bottom corner. Either squares the base and the bag stands.
This matters for gift tables, where a row of bags all standing upright looks entirely different from a row half slumped.
Reusing tissue
Tissue that has not been crumpled hard can be folded and used again. Fold rather than roll, and store flat under something. Creased tissue can be pressed with a cool dry iron, no steam, though it is rarely worth the time.
What is on the shelf
Sets that arrive with tissue already matched to the bag are on the gift bags with tissue paper page. For plain bags to combine with your own tissue, the bulk kraft bags and small gift bags pages cover the sizes, and the brighter finishes are under coloured and iridescent bags.