LincsOnline reporter Maddy Baillie attends a Jane Means gift wrapping masterclass – and learns vital tricks for Christmas
Gift wrapping can quickly turn into an overwhelming nightmare with sticky tape troubles and scrunched up paper problems.
So what better way to learn - and save some stress this festive season - than from an expert in the trade.
Invited to the masterclass of gift wrap guru Jane Means, I knew I was in safe hands with a teacher who has made a successful career out of a skill so many are yet to master.
Her career started 28 years ago from her parents' home near Lincoln.
While working in the travel industry, a hobby of hand making cards spiralled into a gift wrapping business after Jane spotted a gap in the market.
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Her career quickly snowballed with her presence in high demand at events across the country with high-end brands, and showbiz producers and stars eager to have her on their shows.
Despite a busy calendar in the run up to Christmas, Jane was keen to host one of her masterclasses in Careby, a village she is moving to soon, to raise money for the village hall.
Within days of Jane announcing the classes were booked up fast.
“I’m really humbled and so grateful by the turn out and lovely feedback,” she said.
“I hope to put on more events like this at the hall and I look forward to moving to Careby.”
A class of 18 settled into the village hall for the afternoon class - an extra session due to the morning being fully booked.
A log fire crackled, giving a cosy Christmas feel, as tea, coffee and cake were served allowing the group to gather and break the ice.
A U-shape of tables surrounded the room, with one for Jane at the front of the class, each of them with all the materials needed and a goody bag of extra wrapping supplies.
The first task started with a bare and basic brown box holding three tea light candles, the present in this scenario.
If it was up to me I probably would have put in a bit of scrunched up tissue paper and called it a day, but that’s not how Jane rolls.
Instead she had us resembling Rowan Atkinson in his iconic scene in Christmas film Love Actually, although it became clear for good reason.
We started with a brown sheet of folded tissue paper and let it fall over the box, before gathering a sheet of firmer paper to make a crinkled bed for the candles to sit on.
Glitter paper is out of fashion and sustainable brown paper is, according to Jane, but there is no excuse for it to look boring.
The key to creating the bed which elevates the gift is to stand up, not look down and use your finger and thumb to gather the paper together to create a plisse. Surprisingly simple.
Using the box as a guide we folded it to fit in before adding in sprigs of herbs on top.
What was an unassuming looking box was suddenly upgraded with the gift taking centre stage, proving that a little bit of effort can go a long way.
Jane passed an immaculate demonstration present around the room ahead of showing us how to wrap the box.
We’ve all wrapped basic boxes before so surely this wouldn’t be anything too different? I was wrong.
A big part of this is in the preparation, as Jane reminded us of her trusty tip measure twice, cut once.
Not only does this stop wasted paper but it makes it much easier to wrap without wads of excess paper getting in the way.
To me the tape is the most anxiety-inducing part of the wrapping process, as it seems to constantly stick to everything except the paper itself and always leads to a few choice words when the end of it is lost.
But it seems the Christmas stress saviour could be double-sided tape which can be torn and eliminates the need for juggling scissors.
This also stops the shiny tape being on display and instead creates an illusion of folds, with the tape put on the inside of the gift and the outside paper stuck over the top.
A top tip for the double sided tape is to fold and press a small end bit and peel it back to create a tab to pull off.
It was then time to fold the ends of the present, allowing the corners of the box to guide us and lining up the centre with the angles. With so much precision it felt like being back in a mathematics class.
The double sided tape was put all around the edges which were then stuck firmly on.
Despite having her own gift wrapping range Jane would rather be sustainable and help people get the most out of their products.
Looking down at the sheet of leftover paper which Jane said we would make into a gift bag, I was sceptical.
Using our freshly wrapped boxed for guidance the paper was measured and cut.
Despite following the rule of measure at twice and cut once, my maths was completely off and the paper was the wrong size.
Improvising while Jane’s back was turned I decided it was nothing a strip of double sided tape and spare paper couldn’t fix - we don’t want to be wasteful afterall.
Arguably the most challenging part of the class, it was then a combination of measuring, folding and sticking before the piece of paper finally resembled a gift bag.
It was then time to tackle an awkward shaped gift - a circular tin.
For this you use your finger and thumb like pincers and your second hand holding the centre to create a circle of pleats.
While words can say a lot, a look at Jane’s Instagram or YouTube for this technique may prove more enlightening.
If your back is likely to suffer when wrapping Jane suggests folding the furthest away from you, to stop being hunched over, and to never wrap on the floor.
For some gifts it is easier to stand up such as when wrapping a bottle.
This was arguably the most insightful tip because is it really Christmas if you haven’t gifted a bottle of something good?
With one hand around the bottle the other was able to gather the tissue paper to the top bit by bit.
It was the perfect task as it didn’t matter if it looked messy as you could alter until you are happy with it.
This created a pleated effect with a fountain of tissue paper at the top, finished off with a ribbon around the neck of the bottle.
It is simple yet would make a bottle of fizz, often demoted into a wine bag, look much fancier.
Although I would definitely not call myself a natural and have much more practising to do, I can now head into the festive season with much prettier presents and hopefully fewer gift wrapping fiascos.
