5 Easy Ways to Disguise Christmas Gifts

Sponsored by Nuffnang and Australia Post

There’s the shake test, the size-it-up test and the squish test. Keeping gifts a surprise is part of the fun, especially if you keep loved ones guessing up to the very last second! This Christmas, Australia Post is ensuring the gifts you buy online stay a surprise with their range of products and services.

First, let me tell you about Shopmate. Is there a product from the USA you would like to purchase, however find it’s only available customers with local addresses? Shopmate is a service that provides you an American address, and Australia Post arranges for your parcel to be delivered directly from your American address to you in Australia. This service opens up an entire new range of online shopping options.

To keep things super secret, instead of receiving parcels at home, Australia Post offers free Parcel Lockers that are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, or if you prefer, you can opt to pick up parcels from your local post office.

And now for the best bit: disguising gifts. Australia Post launched a clever new range of Disguise Packaging to help keep gifts a surprise. I’m featuring my favourites below.

• The Total Mystery – gift box
• The Designer Decoy – gift box
• The Rod’s Reels Wrapping Kit – wrapping paper and label
• The Basic Chef Wrapping Kit – wrapping paper and label

Click here to learn more about how Australia Post is helping to keep Christmas a surprise.

Surprise ideas don’t end there. If you have top ideas for disguising gifts, Australia Post want to see them. Check out the #SurpriseDisguise hashtag on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for inspiration and share your own ideas and win prizes. Find more details about the Disguise and Surprise competition here.

I’m sharing 5 of my favourite ways to disguise gifts with simple items.

1. Can

Good for disguising: money, gift cards, jewellery, pocket knife.

• Recycle a can with a pull-ring opening lid.
• When you need to open the can to use the contents, leave the pull ring opening intact and instead use a can opener at the base of the can.
• Clean the can out thoroughly and dry very well.
• Be careful of sharp edges, and insert your small gift into a can. It’s a good idea to include paper, tissue paper, fabric or even plastic bags so the shake test won’t work!
• Ensure the contents are away from the bottom of the can, then place the base back on and use a hot glue to hold in place.

Baked Beans anyone? When it’s time to open, it will be a total surprise!
 

2. Cereal Box

Good for disguising: books, clothes.

Save those big cereal boxes to wrap books or clothes. Tip: use a heap of plastic bags to make sure the book doesn’t move around.

3. Smoothie Cup

Good for disguising: scarfs, money, gift cards, active wear, clothes, tea towel.

I asked my local coffee shop if I could have a smoothie cup with gift voucher, and they gladly gave me one. It’s a fun way to package a gift. Fill the cup, wrap it and it will be difficult to guess the contents.

4. Cake Box Snowman

Good for disguising: clothes, toys, lots of things!

This is not only a fun way to disguise gifts, it’s a Christmas feature too! Cake boxes are cheap to buy, and you can get them in different sizes. Get three in different sizes, draw on a few details and stack at the base of the Christmas tree.

Tip: If you have 3 different sized boxes to recycle, wrap them in white paper and do the same.

5. Tissue Box

Good for disguising: money, gift cards, jewellery, small toys/items.

The humble tissue box is brilliant for small gifts. The fun thing is you can reach into the hole to draw out gifts one by one. My son REALLY wanted collectible dinosaurs figurines for Christmas, and I got a heap of them and stuffed them in the tissue box so he can’t guess what’s inside.

So there you have it. Combat the shaking, sizing-up or squishing and make this Christmas full of surprises.