Are you just a little bored of grabbing some paper from the gift wrap stand, wrapping it around your present and taping it down? Is it starting to look a little dull and unimaginative? With a little bit of time and effort we can transform that sheet of paper from the gift wrap stand and other items into something very unique for that carefully chosen gift. Your family and friends will love the packaging as much as the gift.

Make the parcel part of the gift – place unusual or luxury food items in funky kitchenware. Coffee or tea can be given in a china mug wrapped round with a favourite magazine and tied with a sumptuous wire ribbon bow. Put a gift card for a beauty treatment in a cosmetic bag with a relevant product; nail polish with a manicure or relaxing face mask with a facial. Beach time essentials in a beach tote. Candles and bath salts wrapped in pretty pyjamas.

The festive season is an excellent excuse (as if we need one) for a crafting extravaganza. You can purchase stamps, die-cuts, peel-offs, papers, motifs and much, much more to produce your own personalised paper and labels. Bake small goodies with the children and then help them make their own Christmas containers out of kitchen roll inners covered with a rectangle of coloured paper or gift wrap and decorated with simple motifs to create a seasonal look.

Make your own gift boxes and bags, you’ll find plenty of instructions on-line and in craft magazines. Bags are probably the easiest way to start if you want to craft your own; you can make them the perfect size for your present and then personalise using your own favourite crafting passion or buy a selection of motifs and papers – a morning browsing in your local craft store will offer up endless possibilities. But if you’re not up for the challenge of making your own then buy blank boxes or bags and don’t forget that bags and boxes you receive presents in can be kept and recycled – just add your own motif, ribbon and tag and you’ve created another unique idea which you won’t find on the gift wrap stand.

Furoshiki, the Japanese art of wrapping things in cloth, is completely new to me. The cloth needs to be large enough to wrap around several times to allow cloth for the folding technique and also thin enough to knot. If you buy a silk scarf to wrap a small present in, the gift wrap becomes part of the present. But you could also buy bargain cloth and introduce the recipient to the art of Furoshiki so they can recycle the wrapper. I’m definitely going to have a go at this.

Combine a bargain buy from the gift wrap stand with some artistic imagination and make a totally exclusive look.

There are a extensive variety of Display Stand available online and some excellent ones at Display Stands be sure to have a good look around before making a purchase.