One of the main questions I am asked on my gift wrapping courses, is how to tackle the gift wrapping of awkward shapes. To many it fills them with horror yet I believe wrapping awkward shapes is easier than a square box, which is more strict with measurements.

You may have bought a shirt or scarf in a smart boutique and have wondered how they wrap it without using any tape.  They have done it so quickly that you’ve missed how they’ve done it.

Today I’ve picked a fabric apron, and there are numerous ways you can wrap this but I’m going to share a quick and easy technique.

Firstly fold it into a nice compact square or oblong, to keep it neat I tend to fold from the edges into the centre, so you end up with no visible hems or ties.
You will need an enough tissue to go around the object and some excess tissue at both sides. I have chosen contrasting tissue  in white and burgundy.

Fold one of the end over so it forms a decorative band. Place this band in the centre of the gift and tuck in the other edge underneath, I refer to this as wrapping backwards!

It may also help if you initially use double sided tape to hold everything in place although it’s good if you can get in to the habit of doing this freehand with practice.   For the sides you will now tuck the decorative band underneath the object so it resembles a pillow case.

Finally you will tuck in the remaining side in on itself so you end up with a neat finish.  You can also lightly dust the tissue with your favourite fragrance or room spray to add to the senses.  When I’m wrapping fabric items I also like to play safe and have a layer of white tissue as the base colour.

The tissue wrapped creation then can be placed in a box, gift bag, or decorated with ribbon and embellishments.  You could also make a tissue pom pom with any remaining tissue.

I am also delighted to announce that I have landed a Worldwide book deal, and my hardback book ‘giftwrapped’ will be launched in November 2014, so if you love gift wrapping and want to pick up lots of techniques this is the perfect book for you.

Happy wrapping folks!

We are now in to the peak time of the gift wrapping calendar, and are busier than ever with our London gift wrapping services and events until Christmas

For the last few weeks we have been busy gift wrapping wicker hamper baskets for a private client in Mayfair (over 300 of them).  You can also see how to pack the perfect hamper basket in my previous blog post.

It was wonderful to have a packed house for my gift wrapping demonstrations and workshops at the Spirit of Christmas and Country Living Fairs in London and Glasgow.

Kirstie Allsopp popped along to the Country Living Fair in London to sign copies of her new book ‘Kirstie’s Christmas Crafts’ on our stand.  We are delighted to be featured in it, and can’t wait for the TV series.

I was also involved with the ‘Get Creative’ Event at Liberty in London and spent a fun 90 minutes gift wrapping live in their window on a busy Thursday evening infront of crowds. The iconic London store stock our ribbons and I popped in several days later to run a free ribbon masterclass for customers in their magical Christmas shop on the 4^th floor.

Clifton Nurseries, another stockiest of our ribbons invited me to run a mini gift wrapping workshop in their heavenly ‘Quince Café’ in Little Venice.  We all had lots of creative fun whilst sipping fizz and getting in to the festive spirit.  I can’t wait to be back there on the evening of December 9^th to do another festive event and tickets are £20

I headed over to Kent and East Sussex to run 3 separate events in one day for Millbrook Garden Centres.  It was a race against time to reach each garden centre in time but we did it albeit tight, and it was wonderful to meet so many of you.

We have now started our Gift Wrapping Service in Selfridges flagship store in London. You will find us in the Beauty Hall on the ground floor every Thursday, Friday and Saturday until Christmas from 5-10pm.  The service is complimentary when you buy any products from the Selfridges Beauty Hall (minimum £70).

I am delighted to be working behind the scenes for Chanel in Bond Street in mid December.  You will also find me gift wrapping at the Ralph Lauren Fulham Road Store at a VIP charity event, and for Jack Wills and Dior just before Christmas.  This year I will have no lack of luxury stores to buy my presents from and already I am drafting my Christmas list. I just need time to wrap them!

It’s also been an incredible season for filming and media. I appeared live on the Paul O’Grady Show on December 2^nd (You can view it on ITV1 catch up).

I was lucky enough to be joined by Il Divo, Brendan O’Carroll and Jane McDonald and enjoyed a quick tipple at the aftershow party.

You’ll also see me appearing on a BBC2 Christmas Programme on December 19^th and I also had great fun filming with Lyndsey James for her forthcoming Craft blog in January.  The short outakes clip on Youtube is worth a watch and very funny.  I also have a Kuwait film crew popping over to film my work sometime before Christmas.

I will be joining presenter Melvyn Prior on BBC Radio Lincolnshire on 11^th December.  We will be discussing everything Christmas and it will no doubt be fun and chaos in the studio. I will then be heading to do a Christmas gift wrapping evening event at one of Rutlands best loved boutiques, Vanilla in Oakham.

We’ve had some great press lately with features in the Observer, Times and Telegraph. Our ribbons have been featured in many magazines including Good Housekeeping, House Beautiful, Essentials, Woman and Home, Country Living, Prima and Bella to name a few! You will also see them in the second series of The Great British Sewing Bee on BBC2.

With such a crazy season, I will have little time to celebrate Christmas myself as I don’t pop my scissors down until late on December 24^th.  It will be a quick family supper and as I have worked non stop since my wedding, I will finally be heading off on honeymoon on Christmas Day for a well earned holiday!

If you have any general enquiries about our Gift Wrapping Services, Events and Courses please email us at info@janemeans.co.uk or contact us

I hope that you all have a lovely Christmas and we would love to hear about your festive wrapping in our comments box below

One of my favourite stores is Liberty located in the heart of London. The iconic building is located just off bustling Regent Street. We were over the moon when Liberty decided to stock our range of ribbons last year.

I am delighted to be involved with their forthcoming ‘Get Creative’ event which will showcase their designers, artisans and makers. Already Stella McCartney, Etsy and Rosie Wonders have signed up to be involved.

On Monday 28th of October I will be gift wrapping live in one of their windows from 5.30pm-7pm, infront of the London press, bloggers, visitors and shoppers.

Their Christmas shop is one of the best in London and the surrounding streets are always bustling and their windows attract crowds from around the world, so it will no doubt be a buzzing atmosphere.

I will be inspiring passers-by with really handy gift wrapping techniques and plenty of ideas for Christmas. Already I have put together a mood board for the window to give you a taste of what is to come. Their Christmas products on the 4th floor are incredible so pop in and see the collections.

I will be back in store on October 31st to work yet more magic. Come and learn how to gift-wrap in style with me in the Christmas Shop.  I will demonstrate how to wrap the perfect gift at Christmas and will show you how to jazz up an envelope with a few tips.

For more information log on the the Liberty website.  See you there!

Have a go at this fun and easy to do Pom Pom gift wrapping.  All you need is your wrapped gift and a roll of Bakers Twine.

I love the fresh texture of Bakers Twine and I am often asked how I use it in my gift wrapping projects.

This easy step by step idea shows you how to wrap a present, and finish it with an eye catching Pom Pom.

Wind somer Bakers Twine around the gift several times, ensuring the two ends overlap before cutting.

Tie the two ends together in the centre of the gift.  You will then need to get a clean fork ready for the next part.

With your role of Baker’s twine wrap it around your fork several times (I did 10)
Tie the two ends around the centre so the twine resembles a bow tie.

Cut both sides and tease the twine so it resembles a pom-pom. The two ends can then be cut down to the same length as the pom pom strands.  Tie your pom pom in to the centre of the gift with the loose ends.

This wrapping is great for kids and suitable for men too.  You could also make several and have a strip of them along your gift.

This project  can also be done with garden string or narrow ribbon, and loose pom poms can also be glued on to gift tags…Have fun!