The best thing come in small packages – or around them. Among other places, Reddit was abuzz this year with simple but brilliant gift-wrap ideas, often done on low (or no) budget but with incredible ingenuity and enviable craftiness – here are some of the most brilliant examples of 2012, followed by a few from past holiday seasons as well, each linked back to the post within various niche SubReddits.
Under /r/LifeProTips, an industrious user linked their work on Instructables, introducing “Rip Cord wWrapping for your quick-open convenience. I wrap all my gifts with a rip cord incorporated into it. Use a length of ribbon or a strip of tape along the middle of your gift wrap and include a tab along the edge to make it easier to quick-open your gift.” The built-in ripcord-ribbon is wrapped around then tied to a pull tab for super-fast present access – great for impatient friends and family!
For those with somewhat mixed feelings about the holiday and its associated spirit, someone uploaded the above custom angry-self wrapping paper to /r/Funny.
Under /r/Zombies, one woman wrote that her husband’s present had become infected, then linked to the image above. A very simple idea, technically and otherwise, that just incorporates two layers of paper instead of one.
Another Redditor posted a example in /r/Portal of an excellent game-themed optical illusion – now that gift-wrapper was, as they say, definitely thinking in Portals.
And speaking of geeky options, /r/Minecraft fans just love seeing pixelated gaming elements come to life, like this do-it-yourself box, created as follows: “Acquired a small wood box from a local hobby store. Attached all textures using mod podge and coated the outside to seal the paper in. This is the finished and dried product”
