Improve Your Holiday Gift Wrapping Game With the Power of Mathematics

If there’s one thing that can take away your holiday cheer faster than you can say “Blitzen,” it’s wrapping presents. From poor paper estimates to bad fold jobs to impossible wrapping shapes, most of us are lucky to pull off a passable presentation. But as it turns out, if you just add math to the equation, the problem of wrapping becomes a whole lot easier to solve.

In this video, mathematician Katie Steckles (you might know from her video on how to make any shape out of paper with a single cut) demonstrates how to perfectly wrap different presents with the aid of numbers. From a Toblerone bar to a bag of marshmallows, simple math estimations can help you cut and fold your gifts with precision and ease. And even if you’re not planning on doing any wrapping this season, it’s a remarkably satisfying watch.

[h/t FlowingData]