We've all been there: you've roughly measured out some wrapping paper for a gift, only to have it not cover the present completely.
Fiddling with odds and ends of wrapping paper isn't ideal - nor is it eco-friendly! Now, a viral hack for wrapping presents has blown the collective mind of the Internet, and just in time for the final Christmas scramble!
Waterstones' Twitter account issued what it called "a public service announcement" last year, sharing a seven-second video that showed how you can use a slightly too small piece of paper to wrap square or rectangular gifts.
This is a public service announcement 🎄 📚 🤓pic.twitter.com/vCYELqyVQa
— Waterstones (@Waterstones) December 16, 2019
What to do
The video shows that by rotating the gift diagonally you can use a smaller piece of paper to elegantly wrap the present - no gaps, no pulls and no tears!
After turning the present diagonally, you bring the opposing corners down over the middle of the gift, followed by the last two corners at either end.
Twitter uses were astounded by the hack, with one posting that after three years as a bookseller he hadn't learned this trick.
I was a bookseller for 3 years, wrapped about a million books, and I did not know this. I feel embarrassed and ashamed.
— Sam Copeland (@stubbleagent) December 16, 2019
Especially happy were those trying to have a greener Christmas this year, as the trick leads to less wasted paper.
What kind of sorcery is this? And why did no one tell me sooner? (All those years of wasted wrapping paper and late-night Christmas Eve tears....)
— Don'tMakeMeStopThisCar (@ttapreed) December 16, 2019
While those who got ahead of the curve and finished their wrapping regretted not having the hack to hand then.
Oh no, why did I not know this last Saturday when this could have averted my cabbage wrapping? @kiwimariec
— Simon Baskerville (@nzsimonb) December 16, 2019
So, it turns out being a little slow with Christmas prep can be helpful sometimes!
