WIRED
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Sophie Liard, an expert gift wrapper and author of "The Folding Lady," demonstrates and explains a variety of gift wrapping techniques in 11 levels of difficulty, from the easiest to most complex. From a traditional box with a bow to concealing a soccer ball in a wrapping paper gift bag, this expert shows us how to add some spark to your gifting this holiday season.

Director: Maya Dangerfield
Director of Photography: Eric Brouse
Editor: Richard Trammell
Expert: Sophie Liard
Creative Producer: Katherine Wzorek
Line Producer: Joseph Buscemi
Associate Producer: Kameryn Hamilton
Production Manager: D. Eric Martinez
Production Coordinator: Fernando Davila
Casting Producer: Nick Sawyer
Camera Operator: Jack Belisle
Gaffer: Mar Alfonso
Sound Mixer: Lily Van Leeuwen
Production Assistant: Caleb Clark
Hair & Make-Up: Yev Wright-Mason
Post Production Supervisor: Alexa Deutsch
Post Production Coordinator: Ian Bryant
Supervising Editor: Doug Larsen
Assistant Editor: Justin Symonds

Category

🤖
Tech
Transcript
00:00 I'm Sophie Liard, and today I've been challenged
00:03 to break down gif wrapping into 11 levels of complexity.
00:08 As we go through these levels,
00:15 just remember this is gonna take some practice,
00:17 so don't give up.
00:18 As a disclaimer, this is my interpretation of the challenge.
00:22 Level one, box and bow.
00:25 We're gonna have three versions of this level.
00:28 We're starting with the box and bow
00:29 because it's the easiest one to master.
00:33 It's also probably the one that people would use the most.
00:38 So a box is the same measurement every time.
00:41 The paper should go just over halfway up the side
00:43 and then cover the top of the gift.
00:45 That's how you would measure,
00:47 and this applies to all sizes.
00:49 I don't worry about whether my scissors
00:51 are cutting a straight line or not.
00:53 I will just tidy up by folding the edge of the paper over
00:57 before I start wrapping, just straightens everything out.
01:00 You're just going to cover the box from left to right.
01:05 Over the top, just a little bit of overlap.
01:07 Add a piece of tape here.
01:09 Fold the sides in
01:12 until you get to your last side of the box.
01:17 For a box, I'm just happy to use standard tape.
01:21 So when you're doing a ribbon,
01:23 you have one long side and one short side.
01:26 So make sure you measure it correctly
01:28 without cutting the roll first.
01:36 So here's another method.
01:44 It will measure exactly the same,
01:46 but it will be a different technique on the side.
01:51 Tidy up by folding the edge of the paper over.
01:55 Left fold, right fold, tape.
01:59 And then when you get to the side,
02:00 you're going to fold a diagonal line
02:03 and then crease your sides,
02:04 and that would make your box look super, super sharp.
02:07 Just make sure your paper really hits the side.
02:11 And the same when you're going in now.
02:12 You're going to take the paper right into the box
02:15 before you crease.
02:16 Fold up, tape.
02:19 You can decorate it with a nice bow.
02:21 It feels natural for me to hold it.
02:23 Top corner, short side, holding with my thumb.
02:27 You're going to go over one corner,
02:29 then under the next,
02:30 then over the next corner,
02:33 then under the next.
02:34 And that should bring you back to the middle.
02:37 Another thing that helps with bows
02:38 is if you keep your loops really small,
02:40 then you can always make them bigger afterwards.
02:43 This is like when you found that one present
02:49 you haven't wrapped,
02:50 and you've got one tiny bit of paper left,
02:52 and it doesn't fit.
02:53 And it's not the neatest of wraps,
02:55 but it's that or go to the shop.
02:57 So we will do this.
03:00 You're just going to turn it on an angle.
03:02 And then it should fit.
03:12 It's just a great way
03:13 if you've just got a little bit of paper left
03:16 and you've still got a gift left,
03:17 it's quite likely that a box will fit
03:19 if you turn it at a diagonal.
03:21 Next up, level two, sweater.
03:24 The difference with dealing with a box
03:26 versus a sweater is that your box has nice,
03:30 flat, hard sides that we don't have on clothing.
03:34 So to fold the sweater,
03:36 you're going to fold in the sides
03:37 and fold down the arms,
03:39 and then fold the bottom up,
03:41 and then fold the top.
03:42 Folding with tissue is my absolute fave.
03:46 If the tissue paper's too small, it doesn't matter.
03:48 You just layer it across on the table,
03:50 overlap your second piece,
03:52 and it will still wrap in exactly the same way.
03:55 What you're going to do first
03:57 is just fold the paper over the sweater
04:00 and then tuck in each of the ends into the sweater.
04:05 Level three, the book.
04:11 So the books are a higher level
04:12 because you can do quite complex wraps with them.
04:15 Just purely because of the shape,
04:16 they're kind of a box,
04:18 but they're very flat.
04:19 We're going to have three versions of this level.
04:22 The paper should go just over halfway up the sides.
04:25 I just measure it by lining it up
04:27 with the side of the book.
04:28 It's going to come right over the book like this.
04:33 So after we've measured out the paper,
04:35 the first fold is to make your card slot.
04:37 It's essentially just quite a big pleat.
04:41 And really, from there on,
04:43 you can just wrap your book
04:44 as we've taught you in level one,
04:47 right fold, left fold,
04:50 add a piece of tape,
04:52 fold it down,
04:53 fold up,
04:55 card slot,
04:59 and you can decorate it with a nice bow.
05:01 With the second book wrap,
05:07 we've changed the shape of the card slot.
05:10 Same kind of measurement as before.
05:13 You're going to fold a diagonal line
05:16 and then fold up.
05:18 The best paper to use,
05:19 especially if you're starting,
05:21 get some wrapping paper
05:22 that has a real abstract pattern on.
05:25 And that way you're not going to have to worry about
05:27 whether the lines are straight.
05:30 This is the front of the gift.
05:32 So you want to put the bottom down first
05:35 because then from the top,
05:36 this bit will sit that way.
05:38 And if you do it the other way,
05:39 you'll be able to see it from the top.
05:40 The detail.
05:42 My boss always used to say,
05:43 "Retail is detail."
05:45 And then use a corner bow,
05:47 which will sit flush against the shape of your card slot
05:51 and just all ties in really nicely.
05:55 Pleating can go many places.
05:57 You can make your pleats any width you like.
06:00 It's not quite the right size.
06:02 You can open your paper back up and re-pleat.
06:04 I mean, I do that all the time.
06:06 If you're just starting with pleating,
06:07 I would recommend starting with vertical pleats
06:10 and practicing with those.
06:12 And then you can change to diagonal pleats,
06:16 which are really fun.
06:17 It's nice to keep your pleats nice and tight.
06:20 I'll just turn it over.
06:21 We don't want to see the tape.
06:23 We don't want tape on our beautiful pleats.
06:25 So we use double-sided so it's hidden
06:26 underneath the wrap.
06:28 I tape that down and then you wrap the sides.
06:30 Level four, stocking stuffers.
06:35 So things that work really good for the gift wrap method
06:38 is items like this.
06:40 So they've got shape here and then a shape here.
06:43 I would definitely be wrapping little cuddly toys in there
06:46 just because look, they're just an awkward shape.
06:49 So you're going to fold the paper into thirds
06:53 and to measure it, just make sure your paper covers
06:55 the gift that you're wanting to put in the bag.
06:58 We use double-sided tape.
06:59 Then you're going to make the bottom of the bag
07:03 by folding the paper up and then pushing in the sides.
07:08 Tape.
07:09 Then you're going to move to the sides of the bag.
07:11 You're going to fold those in
07:12 so they meet the corners of the bottom.
07:15 Then you're going to fold it all out
07:19 and making sure you put the gift in the bag,
07:22 you can then start to close your bag up.
07:24 You're going to fold a diagonal right and then left.
07:28 And you can decorate it with a nice bow.
07:33 Tape here.
07:36 So multiple items, cuddly toys, awkward shapes,
07:40 also tiny things like cosmetics,
07:42 they're also really, really difficult to wrap.
07:44 You can make a little gift bag
07:46 and put all three in the gift bag as well.
07:48 Level five, cubes.
07:50 So a cube, all the sides are the same area.
07:55 With the boxes that we did in level one,
07:57 there was always one side shorter than the other.
07:59 So it was a slightly different type of wrap.
08:02 If you were going to wrap your cube with a standard wrap,
08:05 then you would absolutely use the same measurements as a box,
08:07 which we showed you in level one.
08:09 But for the top of the box, we will need some extra paper.
08:12 So we've just cut a little bit extra for the top of the box.
08:15 Create your shapes by folding the paper into the middle.
08:19 Start with one side.
08:28 You're going to fold up.
08:29 You'll do this for all four sides.
08:31 You just go around your cube and folding into the middle,
08:33 and it just gives you this beautiful,
08:36 kind of like a fire-swirling shape on top of the cube
08:40 that's perfectly symmetrical.
08:42 Level six, box with no tape.
08:44 To start with the no tape method,
08:46 you do need to get the right measurements.
08:49 And this time, you're going to measure on a diagonal
08:51 and make sure the corners go over the top of the box on both sides.
08:56 It's definitely easier to use a thinner paper,
09:00 so shop-bought paper.
09:02 You need a lot of flexibility in it.
09:03 What can go wrong is so many things.
09:06 For me, personally, it's usually the measurements.
09:09 If you've got the measurement just too wrong,
09:12 not just slightly wrong, that's absolutely fine.
09:14 But if you've got a massively wrong measurement of paper,
09:18 it will make the wrap so much harder.
09:20 You're going to start with one corner
09:22 and just make sure it comes over the box
09:25 and it just hits those top two corners.
09:28 And then to start the sides, you're going to run your nail
09:33 from the box all the way out.
09:36 And this is just to give the paper some creasing,
09:39 and that will make it a lot easier for you to then do your next fold.
09:43 And the next fold, you're then going to fold the sides in
09:47 and fold your next corner over the box.
09:50 And you're going to repeat this on the following corner
09:53 until you get to your last side of the box.
09:56 Level 7, cookie tin.
09:58 This will work for all cylinders this level.
10:02 Think about pillar candles, maybe.
10:04 Anything that's that type of shape.
10:06 You've got a cylinder and then a flat top and a flat bottom.
10:10 So you're going to measure.
10:11 The paper should go just over halfway up the sides.
10:15 Tape.
10:17 My tip to make sure all your pleats are the same size
10:20 is just to use your finger in between each pleat
10:23 and just make sure that you're not cutting
10:25 in between each pleat when you're pulling the paper towards the centre.
10:28 Just remember you're repeating the action.
10:30 Turn your shape, repeat, but use your finger to get the pleat the right size.
10:34 If you want a bigger pleat, then you're going to put two fingers down.
10:37 If you want even bigger, you can put three.
10:39 It'll just help you get really even sized pleats all the way round.
10:42 Once you've done your first one, just repeat it on the next one,
10:45 repeat on the next one,
10:47 and you'll get it beautifully the same until you get to the end.
10:49 Level 8, the candle.
10:55 This is just fun, yeah?
10:56 And quite often candles have got funny lids
10:59 or they're kind of going out in a funnel type shape.
11:02 So this is just a great way to wrap it up and make it look really fun.
11:07 We've got the shape that we need.
11:09 Start with one side and then fold the bottom up.
11:13 The tricky part is definitely cutting the corners
11:16 so you get the right shape to be able to tie the ends with your ribbon.
11:22 I quite like to class myself as a home gift wrapper,
11:26 so kind of like a home baker.
11:27 Everything with gift wrapping can be trial and error,
11:30 can be practice, and you can start again.
11:33 Level 9, the wine bottle.
11:35 I feel like with the wine bottle, I mean, we give wine as a gift so often.
11:40 There's no way to wrap this without knowing we're taking wine.
11:44 So I tend to encourage people just to wrap it as the wine bottle.
11:49 Tissue paper is the easiest to use when doing the wine bottle,
11:54 and I would highly recommend using it.
11:56 I held onto it.
12:00 I mean, you could at some point tape it, I guess,
12:03 but it's nice to keep your pleats nice and tight.
12:05 And even if it does fall, it's easy to put back together.
12:08 That's the beauty of tissue paper.
12:10 We're using a bow, we're using pleats,
12:16 so there is some technique involved, and let's face it,
12:19 it's a very odd shape, but it's a gift that's given often,
12:23 so it deserves a little wrap.
12:26 Level 10, soccer ball.
12:28 I just realized how I'd never say that word.
12:31 Level 10, football.
12:33 Yeah, this was super unusual, and I appreciated the challenge on this one.
12:37 You've not only got a sphere, but you've got it in a triangle box.
12:42 Whoever designed this obviously didn't want it to be gift wrapped.
12:46 So it's a slight variation on the gift bag, this level.
12:49 It just has a little bit different finish.
12:53 So you're going to fold the paper into thirds.
12:56 Then you're going to make the bottom of the bag by folding the paper up,
13:00 making sure you put the gift in the bag the way we turned it on its side.
13:05 It's just a completely different shape, but the premise is the same.
13:11 Level 11, tennis racket.
13:14 I love a challenge, and I thought, "OK, so what shapes have we got?"
13:18 So what we do is we break down the tennis racket into different shapes,
13:22 and what we've got is the top of the tennis racket with the strings,
13:26 which is a round shape,
13:28 and then we've got the bottom, which is kind of like a pole, I would say.
13:32 What I would think about is wrapping the top half first,
13:35 and then moving on to the bottom half,
13:37 using the same paper but two separate sheets,
13:39 and then bringing it together.
13:41 We actually pleated the top half of the racket,
13:44 which I thought looked very lovely.
13:46 And then we brought the paper down to the bottom.
13:52 And then we used part of the gift bag method
13:56 to be able to wrap the handle of the tennis racket,
14:00 because actually the handle isn't quite a straightforward shape,
14:03 neither round nor has sides.
14:05 So the gift bag method was a really good one.
14:09 And then we just were able to connect them together.
14:11 I think it just turned out really nice.
14:15 I hope that anyone who gets all the way to level 11,
14:21 I really hope that you take away the repetitive techniques
14:25 that you can use for the different shapes,
14:28 and that you can see when you pick up your next gift,
14:31 what technique you can match to wrap that gift.
14:35 And if you don't get it first time,
14:37 or you don't get it second, third or fourth time,
14:39 know that that's happened to me too,
14:41 and practice makes perfect.
14:44 Thank you so much for watching.
14:46 (upbeat music)
14:48 [BLANK_AUDIO]