For many people, the end of the year is all about twinkling fairy lights, chilly weather, hot cocoa, festive decorations in and around the house, good food and lots of fun with friends and family. For creative people, this is also the perfect time to grab glitter, glue, and other craft supplies and make the most beautiful Christmas crafts. From making your own Christmas cards and crafting DIY Christmas decorations to decorating a beautifully laid-out dinner table. It's the most wonderful time of the year! The cherry on the festive cake is, of course, gifts, lovingly selected and wrapped. Because let's face it: a beautifully wrapped gift is the nicest thing to receive and especially to give. In this blog, we'll show you how to easily turn every gift into a heartfelt surprise!

Gift wrapping for dummies

You've made a list and checked it twice, bought or made a gift for everyone - naughty or nice! Now it's time for the art of gift wrapping. Add a personal touch to emphasise the element of surprise and wow factor. Even if gift wrapping is not your strong suit or if you have to leave the house sooner than planned, a roll of wrapping paper, scissors and some washi tape will go a long way. Sprinkle on a few embellishments like ribbon, stickers, or glitter and you're good to go. Find inspiration from our 9 tips (and a few more) so you can turn any gift into a work of art!

1. Gift envelope

Do you want to give a gift card or money, but find a blank envelope a bit boring for the holidays? Then make your own gift envelope from cardstock. Use a large circle punch to cut out 4 circles of festive paper, layer them over each other like flower petals and glue them in the middle. Fold the circles in half towards the middle and tie the gift box together with a ribbon.

2. Make your own Christmas wrapping paper

For crafters, standard gift paper falls into the category of "I like it, but I can do it much better myself!" Luckily, there are many types of neutral paper that you can embellish to your heart's content. For example, turn brown kraft paper into a custom gift wrap and stamp or paint it in various ways. Go for artistic brush strokes and splatters, or give your paper a wash effect by lightly brushing over it with paint. Let everything dry and you have personalised wrapping paper!

3. Watercolour labels

Let out your inner Bob Ross (There are no mistakes, only happy accidents!) and get cracking with watercolour paper and watercolour paints. Paint beautiful winter scenes, a starry night or a pine tree. A nice extra: the recipient can recycle the miniature painting by giving it a nice spot in his or her home after unwrapping it.

4. Fuse bead Christmas tree decorations

If you like to think out of the box, try making gift tags from ironing beads. Create jolly combinations with two-coloured beads and baker's twine. It's also a fun Christmas craft idea to do with your children or grandchildren. And, the label can be re-used as a Christmas tree decoration!

5. Christmas gift tags made of cork

There's nothing more exciting than a pile of presents underneath the Christmas tree and trying to spot which presents are for who... Of course, you can scribble names on each parcel, but making gift tags is much more fun. Did you know that it's very easy to write a personal holiday message on a cork label using a chalk marker? Or that it's simple to cut out a shape in a sheet of cork by using a paper punch? Which design will you choose: a snowflake, bauble or heart?

6. Cardstock wrapping paper

How about using cardstock to wrap gifts? At first, this is too thick a material to use, but look what happens when you crumple it thoroughly. The texture changes so that the paper wraps around almost any shape easily. And the effect looks nice too. If you don't feel like crumpling the material yourself, grab a textured roll by Sizzix to get the job done!

7. Stamping on felt

A surprising wrapping idea and alternative to wrapping paper is felt - it's easy to work with, perfect for wrapping large or oddly shaped objects and can be personalised with embellishments. You can cut it, punch it or sew it. But did you know that you can also stamp on felt? Use a stamping ink specially designed for use on fabric, such as the Tsukineko Versacraft stamping pads.

8. Initial gift tags

Tis the season to be jolly. Add a burst of bright colours to that Christmas cheer and paint your own watercolour gift labels in all colours of the rainbow. DIY beaded initial tags add an extra special 3D effect. Make one beautiful letter or spell out the entire name of the recipient with beads.

9. Christmas punches

We have various paper punches especially for the holidays. With festive designs such as Christmas trees, reindeer, angels, and star punches in different sizes. With the latter, you can make your present shine! Punch out stars in different sizes from various colours of (self-adhesive) glitter paper and stick them onto your wrapping paper or gift box for a truly stunning present!

Extra tips

Christmas Wreaths & Garlands

At this time of year, you can find all sorts of beautiful natural Christmassy twigs, berries, and greens such as holly, pepper berries and pine cones, at the florist or garden centre or outdoors to help spruce up a gift. Use rosemary, eucalyptus, or cinnamon sticks to decorate your gift - making it look and smell wonderful! Thread twigs through a wooden bead or string together a number of beads before securing them to the present. Place a small twig of mistletoe underneath a Christmas ribbon or wrap a garland around the parcel. Or, make little Christmas wreaths by wrapping fir twigs around a piece of wire. Very cute!

Wood Burning labels

If you're into pyrography, grab a wood-burning pen and get to work hand-lettering wooden gift tags. Our newest wood-burning pen is part of a wonderful pyrography set with interchangeable tips and even stamps!

Ready, set... Wrap!

Hopefully, our wrapping ideas have shown you that gift wrapping can be a very nice crafty activity. The joy of giving starts early! Set aside a whole afternoon or evening for gift wrapping, with a pot of tea or a glass of mulled wine, some homemade Christmas cookies and your favourite seasonal music on full blast (Mariah, anybody?). Gather all the craft materials you want to use and let your creativity run wild. Make it as simple, original and creative as you like. Bear in mind that anything goes when it comes to wrapping Christmas presents. It's all about the time and attention you put into it because it shows that the recipient is important to you. And that's the Christmas spirit, right?

We wish you lots of fun wrapping and gift-giving! Will you show us the result of your new wrapping skills? We are looking forward to seeing your designs! Share your creations on Instagram with the hashtag #craftedtosmile.