This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Why stop at a book-themed gift? Go all out and use book wrapping paper, too: Your book-loving friend is sure to be impressed by your attention to detail. You could, of course, use old book pages and some ribbon, but if you don’t have a vintage tome handy (or the thought of desecrating a book makes you queasy), here are five beautiful literary wrapping ideas that don’t involve ripping up books.
1. The Ripping Yarns gift wrap and tag set uses a collection of book covers from the late nineteenth and
early twentieth centuries, printed in glorious colour. There are two designs of wrap, and they include covers from The Boy’s Own Annual and The Luckiest Girl in the School. The set comprises twenty sheets of wrapping paper and twenty tags and costs £13.99 from Museum Selection.
2. This paper also uses vintage children’s books as inspiration. The books featured are bound with brightly coloured cloth and stamped with gold lettering and images, as was common before the introduction of dust jackets, and include titles such as Things Worth Doing and Making. The ‘hobbies’ gift wrap costs £6.95 for six sheets and is available from the Bodelian Library.
3. The classic Penguin paperback covers are regarded as a design icon and this wrapping paper does something a little different by showcasing the spines of the books rather than photographing them ‘front on’. Available direct from Penguin at £1.75 a sheet.
4. Oh, I like this Beano Pop Art paper by Wild and Wolf. It’s fun and colourful and retro and just £1.50 a sheet. Available from Bloomsbury & Co.
5. Another wonderful design from the Bodleian Library. It features serious-looking, seventeenth and eighteenth-century leather-bound books which are shelved in the the old medieval library. This wrap will instantly make your gift twenty per cent more intellectual.* £6.95 for six sheets.
* Not really.