Every year we transform Lightbox into a winter wonderland for the holiday season! This past year we had so much fun dreaming up what Christmas sets we were going to put up in our little photo studio, and a favorite of our clients was the Christmas present wall!
Listen, we’re the first to say there is no one right way to do something, but we’re here to help you learn from our trial and error! Here is a quick tutorial on how to make your own present wall for a photo backdrop or just to add some holiday flair to your home or workplace!
Supplies you’ll need:
Wrapping paper! We recommend a variety of prints and solids and suggest buying all of your paper from the same company if you can so you know colors will coordinate!
Pro tip! Choose a matte paper instead of a shiny paper if you are using this wall primarily for photo sessions! Shiny paper will typically have glares when you photograph it!
Scissors & tape! You know the drill!
Push pins or command velcro!
Boxes in variety of shapes and sizes! While you can collect boxes throughout the year, we found it much easier to use boxes with a bottom and a lid (like classic, light weight gift boxes!) to accomplish this project!
Bows! We opted to just use bows on the solid boxes we wrapped, but there are so many different ways you can incorporate bows and ribbons for this project!
Now onto the construction process!
Step 1: Planning
We always say the best way to start a project is to plan, plan, plan! I grew up with my mom saying “Measure twice, cut once” on all of our building projects and I think that translates to almost anything you are looking to create!
By starting with a clear plan of action, you ensure you avoid wasting valuable materials!
So first things first! Consider where you are going to put your present wall! Measure the length and width of the wall you are wanting to construct it on and make sure you order enough boxes and paper to complete your project! This can take a little math, but we always say it’s better to over estimate on materials, and only open what you need to when it arrives! You can always try and return unopened boxes and rolls of paper if you order too much or use them to wrap your Christmas gifts!
For our present wall, we left gaps between each box so you can see the wall behind, but you can always position the boxes with no gaps so you have a solid gift wall background!
Now, here comes phase 2 of planning! Before you wrap one single box, I suggest measuring out a spot on your floor that is identical to the wall you are going to use for the present wall! Start with a straight line, laying out the unwrapped boxes working from the bottom or top and build on from there! This is kind of like a putting together a big puzzle! There ended up being a dew gaps that I did use random small boxes from our studio to fill in in places, but the majority of boxes we used were all the lidded boxes I mentioned above!
Once you’ve filled your floor with boxes and are happy with the layout, grab some post it notes or paper and start labeling each box with what paper you want to wrap it with! This will ensure your final design doesn’t have multiples of the same color or pattern right next to each other!
I recommend taking LOTS of photos of the process! It helps so much when you go to finally construct your wall!
Labeling each box with what wrapping paper I will wrap it with!
Figuring out what order I want to put my boxes in! As you can see, I filled in with some random sized boxes throughout my design!
Step 2: Wrapping
Remember how I said we used gift boxes with a lid for this project? You’re about to learn why! We only wrapped the lid! Yup, you heard me! While this is a bit more difficult and time consuming than just wrapping an entire box, it made the second half of the project so much easier!
Why, you ask? Just wrapping the lid of to boxes allowed me to only secure the bottom of the box to the wall with staples/push pins and just slid the lid on! Given, this only works with lids that go all the way over the package like we put in our supply list! You can definitely just wrap the entire box and use command strips to secure the packages to your wall, but we liked that this gave us the option to reuse these boxes instead of wasting all of the wrapping paper! We plan on storing and using the boxes for Christmas gifts next Christmas!
Only wrapping the lid of the box! This was a little time consuming, but made installation faster for us!
Almost done wrapping! It’s coming together!
Final Step: Assembling!
All your box lids are wrapped and ready to go! Time to put your present wall up! I started with all of my presents laid out on the floor in the exact order I was going to put them up! Starting from the bottom of the wall, I opened each box and used push pins to secure the back of the box to the wall. After securing the box, I simply slid the wrapped lid right on! This works best with classic, lightweight gift boxes!
I continued on with my pattern until the entire wall was filled! We did have some smaller gaps that were oddly shaped, so I filled in with random boxes we had laying around and secured those with command strips!
The final touch was adding bows (I just wrapped these around the lid and secured them with tape inside!) and adding a few Christmas trees! Now you have a festive present wall! The perfect holiday party photo-op!
Here I have the bottom of the box fixed to the wall with push pins, now I only have to slide the top of the box on!
Using push pins made the most sense for us but you can always use command strips to avoid holes in your wall!
Putting the lid on the box fixed to the wall!
Finished! Looking good!
The finished product!
