Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with wrapping

Help me make my boyfriend's birthday awesome with fiendishly delightful present wrapping and delivery!

t0astie — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 00:32:15 -0800

It's my boyfriend's birthday soon, and I want to make the present giving AWESOME! Have already purchased presents and booked flights to be with him. Am organising special birthday meals for him, and a couple of activities too, so most of the day is pretty much sorted. But I really really want the present giving/opening experience in particular to be super fun for him. I'm thinking along the lines of a treasure hunt with clues so he has to hunt for the presents... Or wrapping the presents in a giant box and painting it like a cake with sparklers on top! Or multiple layers of wrapping disguising the present...Or, um, something else. But I don't know what exactly. I just want to make it a completely excellent fun surprise for him. Some background

Him: mid-thirties engineer. Likes:dinosaurs, robots, sci-fi, machines, beer, puzzles, poker.

Me: mid-thirties journalist / photographer. Handy with glue, cutting, drawing, writing, pics, collage and general crafty stuff. But even simple woodwork or electronics would be beyond me.

Equipment available: minimal. Can go to the hardware store, and there's a not-very-good craft store in his town too. I don't have a sewing machine. Everything basic like glue, paint etc is easily available where he lives, but more complicated stuff not so much.

Finances: low. Am broke after present and plane-ticket buying. Could go $20-30AUD extra. Aiming for ingenuity and surprise over extravagance.

Location: Outback Australia. Really.

Timeframe: Nine days til I catch the plane and another eleven days in his town before B-Day. If it's going to be massive in size, must be constructed in 11 days. I won't be bringing a papier-mache fort or birthday banner on my discount flight, for example.

Help me hive!

He is really the best boyfriend in the world and deserves the Best Birthday in the History of the World Ever.

Help me make my candy cute!

cilantro — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 07:51:52 -0800

Cheap, cute, original ways to package the home made candy I'm giving as holiday gifts? Disposable Gladware and the like looks like... disposable Gladware, but I really need the durable, airtight qualities it provides, so ways to completely disguise it and make it look awesome and adorable would be great, as would any alternatives that would protect the candy in the same way. Cheap and easy-to-find materials are key. The aesthetic I am going for is fun and simple-looking (light, bright colors, minimalist design) as opposed to lots of gold and red and green and curly ribbons.

Cartoons of Jesus and Santa, methed and barebackin'

peewee — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 11:55:48 -0800

The most obscene and offensive gift wrapping paper imaginable. Where can I get some? I'm doing up a really special gift for a great friend of mine and I believe some jaw-dropping gift wrap is in order. Where do I get it online? I've googled, but apparently my search terms aren't up to snuff, because while I get all sorts of websites with *wild* images for sale, none of them are printed on wrapping paper! Any ideas?

How can I wrap gifts in a

cogat — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 05:08:16 -0800

When I was in Japan, I bought something which was cuboid shaped which I asked to be gift wrapped. The shop assistant wrapped it in such a manner that only one piece of sellotape was required. The paper was also arranged pleasingly diagonally across the gift, and seemed to be evenly spread around its surface, rather than having densely-folded sides like more common (western) wrapping. How can I learn that technique? Does it have a name? I seem to remember that the technique involved placing the box diagonally and carefully on a standard size sheet of paper, and then 'rolling' the box around the paper to make the folds. Having sent the gift to its intended, I couldn't reverse-engineer it. The appropriate google query eludes me, and there is nothing on this thread about that specific technique.

How can I coil up my iPod headphones cord so that it doesn't tangle?

event — Tue, 06 Dec 2005 11:32:59 -0800

How can I coil up my iPod headphones cord so that it doesn't tangle? I carry my iPod in my coat pocket. When I'm not listening, I take the earbuds out, hold them in my hand, loop the cord around my palm a bunch of times, and stick it all in my pocket. When I go to take it out, it's always a mess.

I'm looking for a better way that is fast to wrap, fast to unwrap, and if possible, doesn't require digging the iPod out of my pocket.

Origami for the bows and ribbons set

zadcat — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 10:02:36 -0800

Are there any good websites showing Christmas wrapping techniques in a clear manner? A friend has rounded me up to help with a Christmas gift wrapping service done for charity. Thing is, I don't really do Christmas much, and when I do have to wrap a present, I wrap like a man. A few dodges for making tidy corners and a few techniques for making bows would help a lot.

How can I get Adobe InDesign to wrap this text the way I want it to?

meikel — Wed, 25 Feb 2004 02:35:55 -0800

InDesign text-wrapping problem: In two column text, a rectangular object, that spans 1.5 columns sometimes results in bad text wrapping (more inside, with screenshots). Using Adobe InDesign (Version 2 and CS, Mac and Windows) I run into the following problem with text wrapping: Screenshot 1. This is obviously not the wrap I want. Even with different settings for leading (I tried in increments of 0.1mm) this won't go away. If the rectangle has a different position on the page the problem does not appear: Screenshot 2, Screenshot 3.
Is this a bug in InDesign or am I missing something here. As a workaround I made three separate textboxes that are linked, but that's no good in the long run.