See them go ga-ga over both the gift and the wrap

Shopping malls often provide a gift-wrap service so their customers can have their purchases wrapped before they head home. That used to be my dream job. I envied those who spent hours standing at a table surrounded by rolls of patterned paper and colourful ribbons. I still think it’s a great job, but lousy knees and a weak back mean it will never appear on my resumé.

Those familiar rolls of paper have fallen out of favour as many of us now use gift bags and tissue instead of wrap and ribbon. Gift bags can be reused, a decision that respects both the environment and the household budget. Despite my love of a wrapped gift, I frequently use the bags.

I open my closet and pull out a bag that’s been passed around my extended family several times, smoothing out the crumpled tissue saved inside so it too can be reused. I toss the gift in the bag, fluff the tissue as best I can and stuff it in. I’m done, and it took only a minute.

Digging into my closet for an old gift bag isn’t all that special. But some gifts, such as those for a milestone birthday or anniversary, deserve a special touch. They will be especially distinctive if you create your own gift wrap.

My favourite method is to use pages torn from old, unwanted books. They’re easy to find.

When your neighbours have a yard sale, there will be a box of old books. Yard sales always have books. Buy some. The unsold ones will either be tossed into the recycle bin and dragged to the curb or donated to a thrift store, another excellent source. I recommend outdated textbooks, which often have attractive illustrations, as do older dictionaries. If your gift is food-related, pages from an old cookbook are fun.

You create the wrapping paper by slightly overlapping several book pages and securing the seams with tape. The process is easy and the supplies required are minimal. Besides the pages you’ve torn or cut out of the old books, you need a few rolls of washi tape, although you certainly could get by with just one. It’s available in craft stores. Dollar stores often sell it too.

A large work surface is best. I use my dining room table, with a cutting mat on top for protection. To begin, take a page (always right-side-up), slightly overlap another page along an edge and secure a portion of the seam with a piece of washi tape. The entire seam doesn’t need to be covered in tape.

You may want a few of the pages to be significant to the gift. A clue to the contents, perhaps. If so, use those pages first. Continue adding pages, keeping the first ones as centred as possible and working outward from them. Turn some of the pages so the type runs in a different direction. Your goal is simply to build a large enough rectangle or square so it can be wrapped around your gift. When it’s big enough to do that, you’re done.

At the wrapping stage, trim the edges so they’re even. Flip your creation so it’s now wrong-side-up, centre your gift on top and wrap it up. You can use cellophane tape to secure the paper around the gift, but I stick with the washi tape. Once the gift is wrapped, add more pieces of washi tape on the seams if you wish. Finally, several lengths of coloured baker’s twine, also available in craft stores as well as dollar stores, can be wrapped around the gift and tied in a casual bow.

My daughter-in-law was the recipient of the gift you see in the photo. I used pages from many old books, including dictionaries and a poetry book, plus one yellowed illustration torn from an old Conversational Russian paperback I deliberately placed in a prominent spot.

I liked the hand holding the hardcover book, as it’s a clue to the gift. Can you guess? When the gift was given, the wrap was studied but the contents were not guessed, although there were some amusing suggestions. Both the wrap and gift were appreciated and enjoyed.

My daughter-in-law loves her new e-reader.