For anyone (including myself) who’s ever tried to wrap presents at the last minute, then realised they don’t have any wrapping paper, here’s a few quick ideas for you!

1. Crepe Paper

Crepe paper works amazingly well as wrapping paper. You need to double it up because it’ll tear really easily though. Luckily, lots of presents might actually turn up (if you’ve ordered them online) already wrapped in it. In which case, find some ribbon and tie them up with it for a finishing touch. If you can’t find ribbon, have a look at some of your clothes. A lot will actually have pieces for hanging up, which you’ll probably not need.

2. In the box it arrived in

Decorate the outside with paint / tinsel / glitter / anything else you can find. I try to save some boxes because they make a great way to package lots of little gifts, if that’s what you’re into. Fill the box with cut out pieces of bubble wrap, screwed up newspaper or those polystyrene things you get and then mix the presents in. Its fun to watch people digging around in the box to find their presents!

3. Scarves / Fabric

If you have an old scarf or some fabric lying around (some of us used to study textiles..) you can wrap the presents up with this. Bonus is that it doesn’t need selotape, if you’ve run out of that too. For a quick how-to, watch this video from Lush.