How to wrap a bottle beautifully without a box

A bottle is the hardest shape to wrap. Paper does not want to follow the curve, the neck ends up as a crumpled twist of tape, and everyone knows what it is before they open it anyway. So stop trying to hide it. The best bottle wraps celebrate the shape instead.

Here are four methods that need no box, and a few touches that make any of them look finished.

Before you start

• Wipe the bottle. Olive oil bottles can carry a thin film of oil on the outside, and it will mark paper and fabric. A quick wipe with a dry cloth first saves the wrap.
• Check the cap is tight. Keep the bottle upright until it is handed over.
• Wrapping is not packaging. If the bottle is going in the post, wrap it, then pack it properly with padding in a sturdy box.

1. The cloth wrap

This is the Japanese furoshiki idea applied to a bottle. It looks elegant, needs no tape, and the cloth is part of the gift.

1. Take a square of fabric, roughly 70 cm on each side. A scarf, a napkin or a cut square of linen all work.
2. Lay it flat as a diamond, one corner pointing towards you.
3. Stand the bottle in the centre.
4. Bring the corner nearest you and the corner furthest away up the sides of the bottle.
5. Bring the left and right corners up, cross them around the neck, and tie them in a firm double knot.
6. Tuck the first two corners into the knot, or let them fall like petals.

2. The tea towel wrap

The most practical wrap there is. The towel goes straight into their kitchen drawer and gets used next to the bottle it came with.

1. Lay a linen or cotton tea towel flat, long side towards you.
2. Place the bottle on its side at one short end, with the base level with the bottom edge of the towel.
3. Roll the bottle up in the towel. Keep it snug.
4. Stand it up and gather the loose fabric at the neck.
5. Tie it with string, twine or ribbon, wrapped three times and knotted.

Choose a plain towel in a natural colour, or one with a simple stripe. It looks better than a busy print and suits the bottle.

3. The kraft paper twist

Brown paper looks good, costs very little and takes string well.

1. Cut a rectangle long enough to go round the bottle with a few centimetres of overlap, and tall enough to reach about 15 cm above the cap.
2. Roll the bottle in the paper and tape the seam down the back.
3. Fold the bottom in like the end of a parcel and tape it flat, so the bottle stands.
4. Gather the paper above the cap and twist it gently, like a sweet wrapper.
5. Tie string tightly at the neck, where the twist starts. Fan out the top.

4. The paper bag fold

For the last-minute gift. A plain paper bag, a pair of scissors and a hole punch.

1. Stand the bottle in a flat-bottomed paper bag.
2. Fold the top of the bag down twice, about 3 cm each time.
3. Punch two holes through the fold.
4. Thread ribbon or string through and tie a bow at the front.
5. Write their name directly on the bag.

Finishing touches

• Something green. A sprig of rosemary, bay or a small olive branch tucked into the string. It smells good and looks right.
• A brown luggage tag. Their name on one side, a one-line note on the other.
• A recipe card. Slipped under the string. “Warm bread, a pinch of salt, pour generously.”
• A wax seal. On paper wraps, a small wax seal over the seam looks hand-finished.
• Restraint. One colour of string, one green sprig, one tag. More than that starts to look cluttered.

When you do want a box

A wrap is personal, but sometimes a box is the right call: for posting, for corporate gifts, or when you want the packaging itself to be the keepsake. We are designing gift boxes for our 0.5 L bottle. They are in development and not available yet.

Until they are, the bottle and a good wrap do the job. See where our gift range is heading.