Squishamallowsare the hit toy of the festive season -particularly Pokemon ones- and that poses a problem. No, not trying to choose betweenone that looks like an avocado or one that looks like a burger, or desperately refreshing the Gengar Squishmallow page hoping, praying it gets restocked. I’m talking about wrapping the things. Two things make an item hard to wrap - being oddly shaped, and being soft, and Squishmallows are both.
You could just wrap your Squishmallow gifts up, do a little scrunching, ignore the inevitable tears (in the paper and rolling down your cheeks), and pop all of them under the tree until December 25. That was my plan until TikTok opened my eyes to a better, relatively simple way to wrap Squishmallows of all sizes. Seriously, it might look tricky, but if I can do it, anyone can.
Preparing The Paper
Grab your Squishmallow and a roll of wrapping paper and determine how much you’re going to need. No need for pinpoint accuracy here, just use the same size sheet you would when wrapping a Squishmallow the awkward way. Now, put the Squishmallow to one side, take the left-hand edge of your sheet, andfold it in so it’s about two-thirds of the way across your sheet. Then take the right-hand edge andfold it in so it slightly overlaps the edge of the left-hand fold. Place small pieces of tape along the edge of the right fold. You should now only be able to see the paper’s pattern and none of the blank white space underneath/on the inside.
Grab your Squishmallow and stand it upright as close to the bottom edge of your paper as you can without it overlapping, just like Fifi the Fox in the image below. Place your hand behind the Squishmallow and keep it there while removing the plush.Where you placed your hand is where you will now need to fold the paper.
A Makeshift Gift Bag
Once folded, you should be able to lift the fold so it’s pointing upright and at a 90-degree angle to the rest of the wrapping paper. Carefullypush down the left and right edges of the fold so they form flat triangles. Once flat,fold in the top and bottom edges so they meet in the middle. You will then need to use three pieces of tape - a piece each on the left and right and one in the middle - to hold all of that in place, at which point it should look similar to the image below.
At this point, you have effectively fashioned yourself a makeshift Squishmallow gift bag, but we’re not done yet. You should now be able to open up your gift wrap bag, but be careful not to rip or dislodge any tape as you do so. I’d recommend keeping it led down while you do this, and also leave it that way as you place your Squishmallow inside.
Folding A Fan
Once the Squishmallow is in, the sealing process can begin.Fold the open end of the gift wrap towards the bottomso it makes a long thing strip, and thenfold it again in the same direction. That will verify the top of the gift isn’t left open. You will then need tofold it back the other way and alternate between folding backward and forwardsas you slowly make your way down to the head of the Squishmallow. Reduce the risk of ripping the paper by making sure there’s as little air as possible in the gift wrap as you go.
Unclear what the heck I’m talking about at this point? If you ever used to make paper fans at school, this is almost exactly like that. Folding paper one way and then the other so that when you’re done and you open it up, it looks like a fan.
Once you’ve folded back and forth until you’ve reached the Squishmallow, your gift should look like the one in the image below. At this point, you will need to place a thin piece of tape right in the middle. That way you will be able to unfurl each end of the fan you’ve created to form an arc over the top of your gift.
Once you’re happy with where the two sides of your fan meet (it can be tricky to have them line up perfectly), place three pieces of tape - at the top, middle, and bottom of the fan’s center - to hold it in place. If all has gone to plan, you should now have a wrapped Squishmallow that looks something like the one in the image below.
Use top-quality wrapping paper if you want your wrapped Squishmallow to look its very best. If you use cheaper stuff as I did for the photos above, you’ll still get to where you need to be, but the fan on top will be a little flimsy and might not stand up unaided.
