That's a wrap

Posted: 20th November 2007 13:28

Just in time for Christmas, Ideal Home's Ellie Tennant gets a lesson from Giftwrap Guru, Jane Means.

Surrounded by sparkly ribbons, pretty papers and glitter, I watched the nimble fingers of Jane Means fly. In a matter of seconds, she had wrapped a bottle of wine - surely one of the hardest objects to wrap nicely - and it looked absolutely amazing. She had folded and pleated layers of paper, curled ribbons, weaved in red berries and strands of glitter and all in about 10 seconds flat. She made it look so easy. I gazed sadly at my own attempt; I had barely managed to cover the bottle with paper and the overall effect was more messy than festive.

I met Jane in her shop - an Aladdin's cave of ribbons, trimmings, papers and baubles. She is a chatty, warm woman who clearly loves her job as a gift wrap expert. With clients travelling from as far away as Bermuda, the USA and Pakistan to enrol on one of her specialist 'Gift Wrapping and Card Making' courses, Jane's business has come a long way since she started it.

'I used to work in the travel business,' Jane told me. 'It was due to an illness that I decided to have a big career change and I launched a handmade greeting cards firm. That company grew and grew, until it became too stressful. Then, eight or nine years ago, I realised there was a gap in the market for high quality wrapping education.'

With a starting budget of just £100, Jane launched her courses and the rest is history. Nowadays, she provides wrapping services for the likes of Selfridges and Harrods, she's regularly featured in magazines and newspapers, and she has even wrapped a gift for the Queen.

'I'm really chuffed that we're finally being taken seriously,' said Jane. 'These days a lot of companies and shops are realising that top quality wrapping is inexpensive and makes a huge difference to customers.'

Disappointed by my own wrapping attempt lying limp and crumpled on the table, I asked Jane for some Christmas wrapping tips.

JANE'S TOP TIPS

For a professional finish, use double-sided tape when you're wrapping presents. It's available from Lakeland.
For awkwardly shaped gifts, use flexible wrapping materials like tissue, cellophane, paper tablecloths or remnants of fabric.
If you're on a tight budget, you can use cheap paper but always buy good quality ribbon. When tying a ribbon around a gift, go around the narrowest part to use as little ribbon as possible.
For inexpensive natural embellishments, tie sprigs of holly, laurel, or bay leaves to ribbon. You can also write on these with a gold gel pen to make them into stunning gift tags. You can buy a gold gel pen from HobbyCraft for £1.39.
If you're wrapping a large object and need to use two sheets of paper, make a feature of it! Use two different coloured papers, ensuring the seam is in the centre of the gift, then cover the seam with a ribbon.

Inspired by Jane's enthusiasm, and determined to have some pretty presents underneath my tree this year and not the usual last-minute, Sellotape-covered disasters I normally bash out on Christmas Eve in a mad panic, I have invested in some beautiful papers and some lovely ribbons. Now all I need is some presents!

Ellie Tennant, Features Writer

For more
See Jane's inspirational wrapping ideas, here.
To enrol on a gift-wrapping course, visit Jane's website.
For beautiful gift-wrap papers, ribbons and more, see HobbyCraft and Paperchase.

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