To do some very basic homemade Christmas paper, all you need are some old paper shopping bags, some Christmasy stamps, ink, markers, and old magazines.
*Note: You just need something to decorate the paper so just stamps and ink or stamps and markers or just markers would suffice.*
Cut open your paper bag so that it can lay flat. You will obviously be decorating the blank (inside) side of the bag. Go to town drawing Christmasy things like trees or snowflakes. Or begin stamping. I think it looks better and less-cluttered if you keep it simple. Space out your stamps/drawings, keep the colors to a minimum, and when in doubt do less.
When you are satisfied with your paper's decor allow it to dry if need be. Then wrap up your gift. I like to save old ribbons from packages and previous gifts for just such occasions. For some of my gifts I used old ribbons and twine. For others I folded/made my own bows out of old magazines. If you would like a tutorial on how to make your own bows, click here, or to make a more classic bow out of magazines, click here.
I love these ribbons and bows! They are unique, fun, and so cheap. How can anyone beat that?
If you're looking for an even more green, earth-friendly wrapping idea, use fabric scraps. My family has taken to doing this for birthdays. We find various sizes and patterns in my mom's numerous fabric bins and wrap up our gifts with them. Tape doesn't always work so well with this type of wrapping, but a well-placed ribbon does the trick!
One last easy and fun thing to do, make gift tags. That way you can distinguish between which gift belongs to which person. Lots of places sell sticker versions of these, but you can easily make your own! I used origami to make my tags. The Christmas tree version is the easiest and my favorite!
Then you can just punch a hole in them and secure them to your package with a bit of ribbon, and you're set! Or, in the case of the snowflake, you can use a bit of tape to attach it to the package. Double-sided tape is my favorite kind of tape to use while Christmas wrapping!
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The above picture is the wrapping for my dad's gift. I reused an smaller paper bag and stamped it with red ink and a chunky, foam stamp. Fold over the top, punch a couple holes, add a ribbon and VOILA!
This bag is for my sister, Cori. I wanted large Christmas trees on her bag, but I only had a tiny tree stamp. That's when I decided to draw on whimsical Christmas trees with funky stars. I then used puff paint to dot on little ornaments (or maybe they're Christmas lights). I outlined the stars with a glue pen and sprinkled on my favorite things ever--GLITTER! Although it is not shown in this picture, the top of the bag got folded down and a gift tag and ribbon were added to complete the bag.
This wrapping paper was probably my favorite for its elegance and simplicity. I used a red ink and the tiny tree stamp I mentioned early. Then, since I didn't have any green ink pads, I used a Crayola marker to color the green onto the stamp and stamped that way! It's slightly more involved but less messy than an ink pad. I finished this gift off with a simple bit of twine and the origami Christmas tree gift tag that I made. Classic.
Here is a slight variation on the green and red Christmas tree wrapping. I still used the red ink pad, but since I didn't have any white ink I watered down a little bit of white paint and brushed it onto the stamp. Then, although you cannot see it very well in this photo, I used my glue pen and glitter to outline some of the trees as well as add tiny glittery stars to the tops of some of them. You can also see that I added one of my handmade bows. Oh, what fun!
This one was a simple free-hand. I drew on snowflakes with a few different blue permanent markers and then added teeny glittery stars for an added measure of fun! (Are you sensing the glitter trend? I can't get enough of it!)
This is by far the funkiest wrapping paper I made. My sister Molly is a glamour girl and so I wanted something fun and sassy for her wrapping paper. I happened to have a lip stamp (I have a bizarre collection of stamps) and so I made it Christmas-themed by alternating the red and green for a festive take on lips. I was tempted to write "Holiday Smoochies" all over it, but decided that would be taking it to the level of tacky and withheld.
You cannot get more simple than this. All I did was add a big ribbon! However, I think it still looks great. You can do this for any season or occasion! That is one of the things I love about brown paper. It is rough but artsy and elegant. It is clean, thick, and durable. Plus, if you add a bow you are good to go for any type of gift-giving function!
I am very happy with the way this particular wrapping paper turned out. It was a bit more work intensive because I used Crayola markers to color on the stamp again and I had to do the color of the light plus the green boughs. But I picked a color and covered the paper and then switched to my next color, and I ended up with a cheery bit of holiday wrapping! Hooray!
Well, that is all I currently have on the wrapping front! I still have Andy's family to wrap for so we'll have to see what that turns out because I am slowly running out of ideas (and holiday stamps!). But regardless, today was a success and it makes me even more excited to give away these gifts!
Happy Holiday Wrapping!
Kate
