12.17.2008

r.r.r. and d.i.y. this holiday!

...if you know me, you're likely aware of my obsession with patterned paper. i have a lot. a whole lot. i use it for everything from making cards, scrapbooking, collage, tags, and notes around the house to making gift boxes, wrapping candles, and mixed-media art. wrapping paper is no exception, but for some reason this year i couldn't bring myself to buy pretty paper that will just get ripped off of a package and tossed in the garbage on Christmas day. yes, i do save some pieces, but let's face it, in the unbridled avarice of Christmas morning's loot-fest, the majority of that pretty printed paper gets trashed.

i've mentioned before that kirk and i are determined to have as much homemade, handmade, thrift-bought, or non-commercial holiday fare as possible this year. so, why not make our own gift wrap?

here's what we did:

for those days you forget your re-usable eco-bag at the supermarket, opt for the paper and save it...then cut the bottoms out (save these to make your to/from tags!) and down one side to make one large rectangle.

if you want your wrap to be nice and smooth, quickly iron the rectangle on a dry setting for about 20 seconds per section. makes it all smooth and smooth-like.


next, get out some stamps or other items to create texture. we used some foam stamps i have in my art supplies, some container lids for circles, some stickers and stencils as masks. you can also use cut potato stamps, yarn/string, cut sponges, or even stickers on a coaster (see below).
(we just stuck some foam sticker letters {american crafts "thickers" work GREAT} onto a thick chipboard coaster to make letter stamps. remember to put the letters on backwards to create the correct image when you stamp.)


get out some acrylic paint, ink, or other coloring medium, and make yourself a palette of colors . ink/paint those babies up and get ready for the fun part.


start stamping! get paint everywhere! flick, spatter, speckle, drizzle, drip, splat, doodle, have fun.


cover the whole rectangle for a large piece of wrapping paper.


wrap your "loot," marvel at your creative genius, and bask in the oooh's and ahhh's of your gift recipients.

we LOVE how these turned out, and we had a blast doing it. our wrapped gifts looked really good and the paint didn't crack or peel off at all. this would be a great activity for those of you with kids who are soon to be on winter-break bugging you with "i'm booooorrrreeed...." all day.

hope you give it a try!

reduce, reuse, recyle, and do-it-yourself! :)

8 comments:

Kristina said...

Ok...you freakin' ROCK! Love it! Did you ever stamp with potatoes when you were a kid?

Minda said...

You are a friggin' genius girl, just genius! I may have to try this, still haven't wrapped any of Andrew's gifts!

Unknown said...

SHUT UP!!!!!! I AM SO DOING THIS! i always feel guilty seeing all of the gift wrappers in the trash on christmas day...kwim? thanks for the tip, you rock!

Anonymous said...

look how cute you two are! love it. great idea...all my presents are wrapped but there's always next year

Anonymous said...

friggin awesome.

Anonymous said...

wow this is a really cool idea, i am going to do this with my kids this weekend, thanks for sharing!

Shannon said...

you and your dh ROCK! love this idea. thanks for the tutorial!

gab423 said...

Oooooh...very cool!!! Thank!