US20160016710A1

US20160016710A1 - Self-adhering wrapping paper with selectively removable backing

Info

Publication number: US20160016710A1
Application number: US14/336,000
Authority: US
Inventors: Carol N. Merrill
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2014-07-21
Filing date: 2014-07-21
Publication date: 2016-01-21

Abstract

A thin, multi-layer, flexible web of self-adhering wrapping material, typically paper, foil, polymer, or metalized polymer having a first layer having indicia on an outfacing major surface, pressure-sensitive or the like adhesive disposed on an opposing major surface, and a selectively removable protective layer over the adhesive. The protective layer is formed from a plurality of individual small, spaced-apart portions that facilitate their removal. Alignment indicia (e.g., gridlines, rulers, etc.) may be provided on the protective layer. In alternate embodiments, a chemically activatable adhesive may be used to replace a pressure sensitive adhesive. The wrapping material may be provided in sheets of different sizes or in continuous rolls.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention pertains to wrapping paper and, more particularly, to wrapping paper having an adhesive layer on a back side thereof, the adhesive layer having selectively removable protective backing disposed thereupon.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Typically a gift giver selects a decorative gift wrap to cover a product, box, or other container for both concealing the content and providing a decorative/festive appearance. To achieve a neatly presented gift wrapped package requires skill, discipline, and patience, qualities rarer in some persons than others. Although prepackaged pre-decorated gift bags and gift box assemblies are now relatively commonplace, some gift givers prefer to provide a personal touch to the gift being given. A personal touch/effort by the gift giver is evidenced by personal hand-wrapping of a gift, a task that is infinitely more difficult for some than others.
For the “wrapping challenged” the task of wrapping even a pre-formed box of uniform dimensions still requires wrapping which can provide a less desirable appearance due to wrapping technique flaws. Furthermore, the task of wrapping a box typically proves time consuming (selecting paper, sizing, cutting, folding and taping) and somewhat wasteful of resources (paper, tape, etc.). In times of high volume, gift purchasing, the prospect of taking the purchases home to wrap them adds to the stress of an already hectic shopping experience. To some challenged gift givers, the combination is almost unbearable.
Wrapping a gift is especially difficult when tape, scissors, etc. are not readily available. Such situations may occur when a last minute gift is purchased on the way to an event and the gift giver must wrap the gift in their car or in another similar location.
In the mercantile environment, gift wrapping is often time consuming for both the merchant and the shopper. To the merchant who must wrap hundreds of packages as a service to his/her customers, gift wrapping constitutes a significant expense, primarily in the form of lost time to his sales force or extra employees dedicated to gift wrapping. For the shopper who must wait while his/her packages or someone else's packages are being wrapped, the conventional gift wrapping process may be annoyingly slow.
Gift wrapping entails purchasing a roll or other package of suitable decorative paper, selecting or cutting off a piece of wrapping paper suitable in size for the carton or package, or other item at to be wrapped, attempting to center the carton or package on the paper and hold it centered while folding the paper about the carton and securing the paper. Additional difficulties arise when the gift wrapper attempts to match patterns or otherwise create symmetry with regard to the placement of a package on the wrapping paper.
While some wrapping products are known in the prior art that utilize a pressure sensitive adhesive, repositioning a package once it has contacted the adhesive is nearly impossible.
It would, therefore, be advantageous to provide wrapping material (e.g., wrapping paper) that overcomes at least some of the difficulties inherent in wrapping strategies and products of the prior art.

DISCUSSION OF THE RELATED ART

Many attempts to provide solutions to some of the problems discussed hereinabove may be found in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,489,333 for ARRANGEMENT FOR WRAPPING PACKAGES issued Jan. 13, 1970 to Jack D. Culbert, et al. provides a pre-folded, collapsed box coupled with a single unitary wrap of having one or more regions of adhesive available to seal the wrapping paper to the box.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,337,943 for GIFT WRAP AND METHOD issued Aug. 16, 1994 to Ronald D. Hendren teaches a quickly applied preformed gift wrap to a carton, the wrap having pre-scribed fold lines sequentially numbered for folding about a carton and shielded adhesive strips to secure overlapping edges of the folded portions.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,347,703 for SELF ADHERING WRAPPER issued Feb. 19, 2002 to Suzanne Betts provides a sheet of flexible material in a rectangular configuration with four edges defining a periphery with four corners sized to conform to any of a plurality of boxes having a variety of shapes and sizes. Each sheet also has a back surface without any printing thereon and a front surface with or without decorative printing thereon. A pressure sensitive adhesive providing for removal and repositioning of the sheet is located on the back surface along the four side edges but terminates in proximity to the four corners. The adhesive forms an essentially rectangular adhesive frame having a periphery essentially co-extensive with the periphery of the sheet and a hollow interior and corners to facilitate handling. The adhesive may adhere to the front surface when wrapping a box or other item. The frame extends from the periphery toward the hollow interior whereby each sheet may be wrapped about a box so that portions of the adhesive contact, engage, and attach to portions of the front surface for securing the sheet wrapped about at least a portion of the box or other item.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,495,228 for SELF ADHESIVE WRAPPING MATERIAL issued Dec. 17, 2002 to Jennifer Mauch, et al. shows a self adhesive wrapping material for wrapping an object without the need for tape or other adhesive material. The self-adhesive wrapping material includes a panel. The panel has a top surface and a bottom surface. The panel comprises a generally flexible material. Each of a plurality of adhesive portions is securely adhered to the bottom surface of the panel. A plurality of covering members for removably attaches to and covers the adhesive portions. Each of the covering members generally covers one of the adhesive portions.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,604,674 for GIFT WRAPPING issued Aug. 12, 2003 to Linden H. Bowman teaches a combination folding gift box-sheet wrap combination that includes measured, pre-scored, indicia-bearing wrapping dimensionally corresponding to the companion gift box where the sheet wrap permits repeatable and consistent wrapping and even when including non-repeating design element.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,076,004 for SHEET WITH TRANSITIONAL RELEASE MATERIAL THAT INITIALLY ALLOWS FOR REPOSITIONING FOLLOWED BY RELEASE FAILURE issued Dec. 13, 2011 to Vanderzanden, et al. shows a release material applied to a sheet material that provides for temporary repositioning of an adhesive over the release material. Over time the adhesion between the release material and the applied adhesive builds such that the adhesive cannot be removed from the release material without damaging the underlying sheet material. The release material includes a free nitrogen containing basic group. The release material is dispersed on a flexible substrate and the release material allows for repositioning when contacted with a pressure sensitive adhesive, which includes a free carboxylic acid group, for at least I minute and not more than 10 minutes.
United States Published Patent Application No. 2005/0276593 for SELECTIVE ADHESIVE GIFT WRAPPING SHEET published Dec. 15, 2005 upon application by Jonathan P. Kitchin, et al. discloses a gift wrap material affixable to a target surface. The gift wrap material comprises a linerless opaque first substrate. The first substrate has a first major surface and a second major surface. A selective adhesion mechanism is disposed on the first major surface. The selective adhesion mechanism includes a pressure sensitive adhesive and is configured so as to provide a first adhesion force to the target surface before activation of the mechanism and a second adhesion force to the substrate after activation of the mechanism. The first adhesion force is at a level so as to allow the sheet to be positionable on the target surface. The invention also is a method for wrapping a gift. A linerless opaque first substrate is provided. The substrate has a first major surface, a second major surface and a selective adhesion mechanism disposed on the first major surface. The first major surface is positioned against the gift with substantially no adhesion of the first substrate to the gift. The selective adhesion mechanism is activated by applying a force to the second major surface. The first substrate is adhered to the gift.
United States Published Patent Application No. 2008/0173404 for SEGMENTED ADHESIVE DISPENSER SHEET SYSTEM published Jul. 24, 2008 upon application by Samuel L. Guillory shows a segmented adhesive dispenser in the form of a sheet or roll has a polymeric sheet coated with easy to release coating. Adhesive segments carried by the polymeric sheet are removed from the segmented adhesive dispenser and applied to gift-wrapping wrapped on a gift box. The adhesive segments have substantially completely coated adhesive coverage on the polymeric sheet contacting side. The opposite side of the polymeric sheet is uncolored or decoratively colored, printed or patterned. The adhesive segment has a tab provided on one corner or edge, which is removed after placing the adhesive segment on the gift-wrapping. Upon removal of the tab, the adhesive coating directly below the tab secures the adhesive segment to the gift-wrapping without wrinkles or dangling unsightly portions on the gift-wrap. Removal of the adhesive segment, and its application to the gift-wrapping is readily carried out by a one-hand operation.
United States Published Patent Application No. 2009/0127322 for GIFT WRAPPING MATERIAL AND METHOD published May 21, 2009 upon application by Patricia Miller discloses a paper-like material in sheet form having a design on at least one side of the material. The material has a means of separating the material such as perforations arranged in a pattern or grid. Adhesive means such as tape or glue is arranged along the potential new edges created by separating the material, thereby producing a gift wrapping material. The gift wrapping material may be used without tools or supplies in order to wrap gifts of a wide variety of sizes and shapes. In addition, the material may be easily reused on other gifts of equal or smaller size.
United States Published Patent Application No. 2009/0229732 for STRETCH RELEASABLE ADHESIVE published Sep. 17, 2009 upon application by Michael D. Determan, et al. provides a stretch releasable adhesive article includes first and second opposed major surfaces and a pull tab, and at least a portion of at least one of the first and second major surfaces is adhesive. The adhesive article has a cross-sectional area-as measured normal to the axis defined by a stretch release force applied to the pull tab during the stretch release process—that has a defined width to thickness ratio, and the adhesive article may have a visible light transmission of at least about 90%, and a haze of no greater than 5%.
United States Published Patent Application No. 2012/0000970 for GIFT WRAP WITH TAPE published Jan. 5, 2012 upon application by Erin Johnson shows a combination of gift wrapping paper and pre-cut pieces of adhesive tape. The gift wrap may be a single individual sheet that is wound around a tube or mandrel, otherwise known as roll wrap or it may be folded into neat, square or rectangular shapes, also known as flat wrap. Several pieces of pre-cut tape are provided on an adhesive backing sheet, from which the pre-cut tape can be easily removed. The tape may come in various shapes, sizes and colors. Alternatively, to/from stickers or adhesive seals may be provided in place of or in addition to the pre-cut strips of tape. The gift wrapping paper with tape is packaged together in shrink wrap, cellophane or other clear or transparent packaging material. The package may additionally include bows, ribbons, cards, scissors, gift wrap cutter or other gift wrap accessory.
None of the patents and published patent applications, taken singly, or in any combination are seen to teach or suggest the novel wrapping material of the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention there are provided several configurations of self-adhering wrapping material having selectively removable backing. Typically a thin sheet of wrapping material (typically paper, polymer, foil, or metalized polymer) has a pressure sensitive type adhesive applied to a rear surface thereof. A protective layer covers the adhesive in a pattern that readily allows selective removal of small portions the protective backing. Indicia may be applied either the rear surface of the thin sheet or, alternately, to the outer surface of the protective backing sheet. The rear indicia may be a series of grid lines and may periodically include a ruler disposed along either the X-axis and/or the Y-axis of the thin sheet of wrapping material. In alternate embodiments, the adhesive may be a chemically activatable adhesive. Such adhesives may not require the bulk or expense of a backing sheet. Either water or a benign solvent disposed in a sponge tipped pen or other similar dispenser may be used to selectively activate the adhesive.
In addition, stickers may be provided to decorate a wrapped item or to seal loose wrapper ends.
The wrapping material in accordance with the invention may be provided in bulk rolls, or in flat packs of one or more sheets of wrapping material. Flat packs may be provided in a number of different sheet sizes to facilitate wrapping common size packages (e.g., shirt boxes, etc.). Flat pack wrapping material may be provided as part of a wrapping kit that includes a knocked down box and other accessories, for example, stickers or other sealing material for use in spots where the adhesive on the rear surface of the material itself is insufficient.
It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide gift wrapping material (e.g., wrapping paper) having an adhesive disposed on a rear major surface thereof.
It is another object of the invention to provide gift wrapping material having a decorative design or other indicia on a front surface and an adhesive disposed on a rear surface thereof and with a backing sheet having selectively removable portions thereof over the adhesive.
It is a further object of the invention to provide gift wrapping paper having an adhesive disposed on a rear surface wherein the with selectively removable portions of a backing sheet are relatively small individual backing sheet portions arranged in a predetermined pattern including a small gap between adjacent ones of the small individual backing sheet portions.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide gift wrapping paper having an adhesive disposed on a rear surface wherein the with selectively removable portions of a backing sheet are relatively small individual backing sheet portions formed from a transparent or translucent material.
It is an additional object of the invention to provide gift wrapping paper having an adhesive disposed on a rear surface wherein the relatively small individual backing sheet portions are substantially rectangular, each having a major axis.
It is a yet another object of the invention to provide gift wrapping material having an adhesive disposed on a rear surface wherein the relatively small individual backing sheet portions are arranged in a pattern with the major axis of at least one of the portions aligned orthogonally to at least one other of the portions.
It is an additional object of the invention to provide an alignment grid, ruler, or other indicia disposed on a rear surface to facilitate aligning the wrapping material with an item to be wrapped therewith.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide gift wrapping paper having an adhesive disposed on a rear side wherein the adhesive is a chemically activated adhesive that may be selectively activated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various objects, features, and attendant advantages of the present invention will become more fully appreciated as the same becomes better understood when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

FIG. 1A is a top plan, schematic view of a portion of a sheet of wrapping material with a solid backing member in accordance with the prior art;

FIG. 1B is a bottom plan, schematic view of the wrapping material of FIG. 1A and showing a solid backing member;

FIG. 1C is a side elevational, schematic view of the sheet of wrapping material of FIG. 1A;

FIG. 2A is a top plan, schematic view of a portion of a sheet of wrapping material having a decorative design on its front surface in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2B is a bottom plan, schematic view of a portion of a sheet of wrapping material with a selectively removable backing of FIG. 2A

FIG. 2C is a side elevational, schematic view of a portion of the sheet of wrapping material of FIG. 2A;

FIG. 3 is a bottom plan, schematic view of the portion of the sheet of wrapping material of FIG. 2B having added gridlines;

FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view of the portion of the sheet of wrapping material of FIG. 2B having another pattern of indicia disposed on a rear surface;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational, schematic view of a solvent applicator for use in activating chemically activatable adhesives; and

FIGS. 6A-6E are perspective, schematic views of a package in successive stages of being wrapped in the wrapping material of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring first to FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 1C, there is shown a bottom plan schematic view, a top plan schematic view, a bottom plan schematic view, and a side elevational schematic view, respectively of a portion of a sheet of wrapping material forming a multi-layer web in accordance with the prior art, generally at reference number 100. As used herein, the terms wrapping material and multi-layer web are used interchangeable. Wrapping material 100 is a thin, flexible multi-layer web having an upper or front surface 102 and an opposing lower or rear surface 104.
A top layer 106 of multilayer web 100 is typically formed from paper and generally carries artistic indicia 112 on an upper surface thereof. Such artistic indicia are believed to be well known to those of skill in the wrapping paper art.
A layer of adhesive 108 is disposed on a lower (inner) surface, not specifically identified, of top layer 106. Adhesive 108 typically may be a pressure sensitive adhesive or the like.
With most types of adhesive 108, a lower protective layer 110 is placed over adhesive 108 to prevent the adhesive's unintended adherence to an object other than the object to be wrapped. In the prior art, typically lower protective layer 110 is a single sheet although other configurations are also known.
Referring now also to FIGS. 2A, 2B and 2C, there are shown a top plan, schematic view, a bottom plan, schematic view and a side elevational, schematic view, respectively of a portion of a sheet of wrapping material in accordance with the invention, generally at reference no. 200.
Wrapping material 200 in accordance with the inventions is also a thin, flexible multi-layer web having an upper or front surface 202 and an opposing lower or rear surface 204.
Top layer 206 of multilayer web 200 is typically formed from paper, polymer, metal foil, metalized polymer, etc. and generally carries artistic indicia exemplified by pattern 216 on an upper surface 202 thereof. Such artistic indicia are believed to be well known to those of skill in the wrapping paper art.
It will be recognized by those of skill in the art that any thin, flexible web material upon which indicia may be printed or otherwise affixed may be used to practice the invention.
A layer of adhesive 208 is disposed on a lower (inner) surface, not specifically identified, of top layer 206. Adhesive 208 may be a pressure sensitive adhesive, a chemically activated adhesive or any other adhesive suitable for the application.
Adhesives 208 may be applied to a rear surface, not specifically identified, of top layer 206 by any known application process such as spraying, rolling, brushing, adhering a preformed thin adhesive layer, etc. In addition, adhesive may be selectively applied to top layer by a process such as screen printing or any other similar process known to those of skill in the art. Selective application allows gaps between Individual backing pieces 210 a, 210 b . . . 210 n to be adhesive free that may be advantageous for some applications.
With most types of adhesive 208, a lower protective layer 210 is placed over adhesive 208 to prevent the adhesive's unintended adherence to an object other than the object to be wrapped. In the prior art and shown in FIG. 1C, lower protective layer 210 is typically a single sheet of backing material although other configurations are also known.
In the novel backing sheet arrangement of the invention, backing sheet 210 consists of a plurality of small, closely spaced, individual pieces of backing sheet 210 a, 210 b . . . 210 n. For illustration, Individual backing pieces 210 a, 210 b . . . 210 n are arranged in two groups of vertically oriented individual backing pieces 210 a, 210 b . . . 210 n with edge backing pieces 212 along the top and bottom edge of sheet 200. Individual backing pieces 210 a, 210 b . . . 210 n are separated by small gaps 214 to facilitate removal of individual backing pieces 210 a, 210 b . . . 210 n as required to wrap a package, that process being described in more detail hereinbelow.
Products available in the market place and believed to be well known to those of skill in the art are known as “Crack 'n Peel®” that utilize scoring in their backing sheet that allow a user to bend the sheet to expose an edge of the backing paper to facilitate its removal. A similar bending action may be used with wrapping material 200 of the invention. The size of small gaps 214 is chosen such that when wrapping material 200 is bent to facilitate removal of one of Individual backing pieces 210 a, 210 b . . . 210 n, the radius of the bend keeps exposed adhesive regions 208 in small gaps 214 from touching and possibly adhering to an undesired surface.
It will be realized by those of skill in the art that a myriad of different arrangements of individual backing pieces 210 a, 210 b . . . 210 n may be formed and the invention is not considered limited to the arrangements chosen for purposes of disclosure. Rather, the invention is intended to include any and all possible arrangements of Individual backing pieces 210 a, 210 b . . . 210 n with gaps 214.
Referring now also to FIG. 3, there is shown a bottom plan, schematic view of the portion of wrapping material of FIG. 2B but with an exemplary grid pattern printed on small individual backing pieces 210 a, 210 b . . . 210 n. In this example, a series of horizontal lines 220 and a series of vertical lines 218 are useful for aligning an item to be wrapped squarely, the item to be wrapped being neither shown nor forming any portion of the invention.
Referring now also to FIG. 4, there is shown a rear plan, schematic view of an alternate embodiment of the novel wrapping material in accordance with the invention, generally at reference number 400. In wrapping material 400, exemplary alignment indicia consisting of horizontal lines 402, vertical lines 404, and diagonal lines 406 are printed directly on a rear surface, not specifically identified, of top layer 206. A substantially transparent adhesive 408 is then applied directly over alignment indicia 402. Finally small individual backing pieces 410 a, 410 b . . . 410 n are made from transparent polymer, thereby allowing alignment indicia 402, 404, 406 to show through small individual backing pieces 410 a, 410 b . . . 410 n.
It will be recognized to those of skill in the art that numerous variations in alignment indicia may be provided. For example, diagonal lines, numerical indicia, rulers, etc. may be added. Consequently, the invention is not considered limited to the examples of FIGS. 3 and 4 chosen for purposes of disclosure. Rather, any and all possible alignment lines, numbers, pointers, symbols or the like are intended for inclusion in the invention.
Referring now also to FIG. 5, there is shown a side elevational, schematic view of a solvent applicator useful for selectively activating regions of chemically activatable adhesive on wrapping material in accordance with the invention.
Activator 500 consists of a hollow, flexible tube body 502, typically sealed at a distal end 504. A screw connector 506 at a proximal end 508 of flexible tube 502 allows selective attachment and detachment of an applicator tip 510 having a sponge-like tip 512. Screw connector 506 also allows filling tube 502 with a liquid solvent 514.
The novel wrapping material 200, 400 in accordance with the invention is used by selecting a sheet thereof or cutting an appropriate length from a bulk roll, not shown, of wrapping material.
Referring now also to FIG. 6A, there is shown a perspective view of a first step in wrapping a package.
The selected sheet or piece of wrapping material 200, 400 is placed face down (i.e., with the plurality of small individual backing sheet portions 210 a. 210 b . . . 210 n or 410 a, 410 b . . . 410 n) facing upward on a flat surface.
One or more of the plurality of small individual backing sheet portions 210 a. 210 b . . . 210 n or 410 a, 410 b . . . 410 n is removed from an area 602 in which adhesive 208 is exposed. A package 600 forming no part of the invention is lowered onto wrapping material 200 in the direction shown by arrow 604.
As may be seen in FIG. 6B, package 600 is placed on wrapping material 200 and a fold 608 of wrapping material 200 over a top surface, not specifically identified, of package 600. Pattern 216 is now visible. For clarity, the plurality of small individual backing sheet portions 210 a. 210 b . . . 210 n or 410 a, 410 b . . . 410 n are not shown on surface 606.
As may be seen in FIG. 6C, additional folds have been made in a manner believed to be well known to the general public. As in FIG. 6B, the plurality of small individual backing sheet portions 210 a, 210 b . . . 210 n or 410 a, 410 b . . . 410 n are not shown on surfaces 606.
In FIG. 6D, additional end folds have been made defining the beginning of end fold 610.
Finally, in FIG. 6E, all folds are complete and the end flap (fold 610, etc.) may be sealed with transparent tape, stickers, seals, etc. represented by star 612.
Since other modifications and changes varied to fit particular operating requirements and environments will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the invention is not considered limited to the example chosen for purposes of disclosure, and covers all changes and modifications which do not constitute departures from the true spirit and scope of this invention.
Having thus described the invention, what is desired to be protected by Letters Patent is presented in the subsequently appended claims.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. Package wrapping material, comprising:

a) a thin, flexible web having a first layer having an outfacing front major surface and an opposing rear major surface, said outfacing front major surface having indicia disposed upon at least a portion thereof;

b) an adhesive layer substantially uniformly disposed on at least a portion of said opposing rear surface;

c) a protective backing sheet disposed on said adhesive layer, said protective backing sheet comprising a plurality of individual backing sheet portions each separated one from another by a small gap at each periphery thereof, each of said plurality of individual backing sheet portions having an inner, adhesive facing major surface and an opposing outer major surface.

2. The package wrapping material as recited in claim 1, wherein said first layer comprises a material selected from the group comprising: paper, foil, polymer, and metalized polymer.

3. The package wrapping material, comprising a thin, flexible web as recited in claim 2, wherein said adhesive layer comprises at least one adhesive selected from the group: an opaque adhesive, a transparent adhesive, and a translucent adhesive.

4. The package wrapping material as recited in claim 1, wherein said plurality of individual backing sheet portions each separated one from another by a small gap at each periphery are formed from material having a property selected from the group: opaque, transparent, and translucent.

5. The package wrapping material as recited in claim 3, further comprising:

d) indicia disposed on at least one surface selected from the group: said outer major surface of at least some of said plurality of individual backing sheet portions, and said opposing rear surface of said first layer.

6. The package wrapping material as recited in claim 4, wherein said indicia disposed on said outer major surface of at least some of said plurality of individual backing sheet portions, and said opposing rear surface of said first layer comprises at least one selected from the group: a horizontal line, a vertical line, a diagonal line, a number, a geometric symbol, and text.

7. A method of wrapping a package, the steps comprising:

a) providing a piece of wrapping material formed as a thin, flexible, multi-layer web having a first layer having an outfacing front major surface and an opposing rear major surface, said outfacing front major surface having indicia disposed upon at least a portion thereof; an adhesive layer substantially uniformly disposed on at least a portion of said opposing rear surface; a protective backing sheet disposed on said adhesive layer, said protective backing sheet comprising a plurality of individual backing sheet portions each separated one from another by a small gap at each periphery thereof, each of said plurality of individual backing sheet portions having an inner, adhesive facing major surface and an opposing outer major surface;

b) placing said outfacing front major surface of said piece of wrapping material downward on a surface;

c) removing at least one of said plurality of individual backing sheet portions thereby exposing said adhesive layer;

d) orienting an article to be wrapped and placing said article to be wrapped onto said exposed adhesive layer;

e) using remaining regions of said wrapping material to surround all surfaces of said article to be wrapped by folding and creasing said wrapping material; and

f) applying an item selected from the group comprising: transparent tape, and a decorative sticker.