After reading this guide, you will learn how to wrap Christmas presents like a pro and never again be embarrassed by crumpled paper or inadequate wrapping.

Before you begin, you will need:

1. Sharp Scissors
2. A roll of wrapping paper. Higher priced, thick paper is easier to wrap with.
3. Clear plastic tape.
4. A clear flat surface such as a table.

1. Look at the present that you would like to wrap. If it is already in a rectangular cardboard box, you're in luck and you can skip directly to step 2
2. If your gift is not in a rectangular box, the best way to wrap the gift is to obtain a box big enough to hold your irregularly shaped gift.

As an alternative to gift wrapping, many people chose paper or cloth gift bags. These bags are typically more expensive than wrapping paper, but are convenient and easier than wrapping. Simply find a gift bag that is big enough to hold your gift, tie it with a nice bow and you're done.

The down side to gift bags is that people (especially children) enjoy opening Christmas wrapping paper. There are traditional, tangible aspects to seeing carefully wrapped Christmas presents under a tree and opening them piece-by-piece!

1. Find a clear, open area such as a dining room or kitchen table.
2. Unroll a little bit of wrapping paper so that the "nice" or finished side of the wrapping paper is face down.
3. Place the Christmas present on top of the paper so that it will be easy to judge how much paper you need.
4. Using the present as a guide, unroll slightly more than double the amount of box. For example, if your box is 10 inches wide, unroll approximately 20 inches of paper.
5. Cut the paper from the roll using sharp scissors off of the rest of the roll. Cutting a perfectly straight line is not important.
6. Along the cut edge, fold the paper over on itself so that you're left with a nice, clean, straight line.

1. Small, thin pieces of clear tape work best. If you're wrapping a number of presents, pre-cutting a number of small pieces of tape and placing them on the edge of your working surface can make wrapping easier.
2. Position the present in the center of the paper.
3. Looking down on the present, you will notice that there are 2 long ends and 2 short ends.
4. Wrap each long end around the top of the present. Secure each with a piece of tape.
5. Run your fingers along the edge of the box (now covered by wrapping paper) to crease the paper and make a professional, square edge.
6. Similarly, push the short ends around the sides of the present and secure with tape.
7. You will be left with four flaps of paper that need to be secured.
8. First, fold these flaps in on themselves (in half) and then secure in place on top of the sides of the present.
9. Again, carefully crease each edge so that the corners are sharp and attractive.

Practice makes perfect and after you wrap a few consecutively, you will find that wrapping Christmas presents becomes a fast and easy task.