Wrapping awkward shapes without wrapping paper

Some things do not wrap. A potted plant, a bottle, a football, a bag of coffee, anything soft that will not hold a fold — with these, paper and tape produces a lumpy parcel that looks worse than no wrapping at all.

A bag solves all of them, and the trick is matching the bag shape to the problem.

Bottles

A wine or spirit bottle is tall, narrow and heavy — three properties that fight an ordinary gift bag.

What works is a bag taller than the bottle by three or four inches with a narrow footprint, so the bottle cannot tip. Where a bottle bag is not available, a medium bag with two rolled sheets of tissue wedged down either side holds it upright perfectly well.

The weight point matters. A full bottle is around three pounds and all of it hangs from the handles. Use a bag with a reinforced top edge and do not use die-cut handles at all.

For two bottles, use a large bag with a card divider between them, or the glass will chime all the way there.

Plants

A potted plant is heavy at the bottom, damp, and taller than it is wide. Never put a wet pot straight into a paper bag; the base softens and fails, sometimes within minutes.

Put the pot inside a plastic bag or a saucer first, then into a bag wide enough for the foliage not to be crushed. A wide shallow bag suits a low plant better than a tall narrow one.

Do not close the top over the leaves. A plant travels better with its head out, and it looks better too.

Round things

Balls, globes, large candles, anything spherical. The problem is that they roll and press the bag out of shape.

Fill the corners of the base with crushed tissue to make a nest, and the object sits in the middle instead of rolling to a side. A bag with a wide gusset holds a round object far better than a flat-fronted one.

Soft things

Clothing, blankets, cuddly toys. These wrap badly in paper because there are no edges to fold against, and they look shapeless in a bag for the same reason.

Fold flat and firmly, then wrap in tissue as a parcel before it goes into the bag. The tissue gives the shape the item lacks. A wide, shallow bag suits folded clothing better than a tall one.

Use white or cream tissue against fabric — dyed tissue can transfer colour if anything gets damp.

Things with corners

Boxed items are the easy case, and the only thing to check is the gusset. Measure the box’s depth and buy a bag with a gusset at least an inch greater. The face width matters less; a box can go in at a slight angle, but it cannot compress.

Something with sharp corners — a picture frame, a boxed set — should have a sheet of tissue between the corner and the bag, or the corner will eventually push through.

Several items together

A hamper of small things in one bag needs a flat base and something to stop everything settling into the bottom corner. Put the heaviest item in first, flat, then build upwards with lighter things, and pack tissue into the gaps so nothing shifts.

A piece of card cut to the base size makes the whole thing sit square and is invisible once the tissue is in.

Very small things

A single small item in any bag looks lost. Either use the smallest bag available, or fill the base with crushed tissue so the gift sits near the top where it can be seen.

A ring box at the bottom of a medium bag is a gift somebody will believe is empty.

The general rules

• Height of bag should exceed height of gift by two to three inches.
• Gusset should exceed the gift’s depth by an inch.
• Anything heavy needs reinforced handles.
• Anything damp needs a barrier before it touches paper.
• Fill the space, always — tissue is structural as well as decorative.

Where to look

The full range of shapes with all three dimensions in every title is spread across four pages: bulk kraft bags for the standard sizes in quantity, small gift bags for the smaller shapes, gift bags with tissue paper for sets that arrive ready to fill, and coloured and iridescent bags for the brighter finishes.

If you are not sure a specific item will fit, measure it and call the counter — we have the bags in front of us.