Each gift you give is unique and you should wrap them as such.
When it comes time to wrap Christmas gifts, finding the perfect wrapping paper is a little difficult. You want to wrap your gifts for your friends nicely, but you don’t want them to look like every other present out there. Just like all of your Christmas decorations, you want your gift wrappings to have a personality to them. To add your own flair to each gift you give this holiday season, make your own DIY Christmas wrapping paper. Here’s how you can get started making your own one-of-a-kind gift wrapping.
Materials
Before you begin, you’ll need to gather your materials. You’ll definitely need paper, but there are other optional materials you’ll want to consider for your DIY Christmas wrapping paper.
Paper
Decide on what paper you want to use. If you want to make a roll of wrapping paper, you’ll want to get butcher paper or a roll of craft or art paper. Art and craft paper can come in many different colors, so you choose what you like.
You can also use other paper, depending on the size of the gift. Newspaper works well for medium-sized gifts and printer or construction paper can do the trick for smaller presents.
Other optional items
You can really use anything you want to decorate your wrapping paper. Consider some of these to bring your paper to life:
- Paint and paintbrushes
- Ink pads and stamps
- Craft foam
- Scissors
- Markers
- Glitter
- Sequins
- Glue/glitter glue
- Stencils
- Stickers
- Ribbon/string
Once you’ve gathered all of the materials you want to use, start making your own DIY Christmas wrapping paper!
Ways to make Christmas wrapping paper
Making your own wrapping paper really comes down to your own preferences and creativity. Here are a few ideas to get you started.
Newspaper and watercolor
Grab some plain newspaper and watercolor paints. Using red, green and white watercolors and a large paintbrush, create large patches of each color on the newspaper, letting the paints blend together on the edges. This makes for a unique vintage-style wrapping paper.
Freehanded paint design
If you’re comfortable with it, you can freehand designs with paint. Cut off a piece of butcher paper, then use some paint and a paintbrush to paint a pattern or design. You can make it as simple or as elaborate as you want! Some Christmas designs you can paint, no matter your skill level, are a Christmas tree, leaves and holly berries, ornaments, stockings and candy canes.
Markers and stencils
Simply set your stencil on your paper, then use markers to fill it in. There are many ways you can lay out your stencil, whether you want individual designs that are large or a continuous pattern of something small.
Stamps and paint
Paint and stamps make for a quick and easy wrapping paper. Grab a stamp you can use with paint or make your own using craft foam or even a potato. Put some paint in a flat container or on a plate and dip your stamp into it. Then, stamp away! You can usually dip it once and stamp it a few times before needing to reload it with paint.
Painted handprint reindeer
This is great to involve the kids with. Put some brown paint in a pie tin or on a paper plate. Dip a tiny hand in the paint palm-down, making sure to cover the entire palm and all of the fingers (you may need to use a paintbrush to get it all covered). Use the hand like a stamp and place it on the paper. Next, grab a paintbrush and paint lines from the fingers to look like antlers. Add some eyes and a red nose on the palm to make the face. Voila! You’ve got a reindeer. Repeat as many times as you want across the wrapping paper.
Inked stamps
If you’d rather have designs or patterns that have finer lines, rubber stamps and ink are a good option. Grab a few different colors of ink pads and some of your favorite Christmas stamps. Then simply choose your favorite stamp designs and ink colors, and stamp them onto your paper!
Glitter snowflakes
If you want to add some sparkle and shimmer to your wrapping paper, you can make glitter snowflakes (or really any design). Use glue to draw out snowflakes or your desired design. Immediately after drawing a design, sprinkle glitter over the glue and wait for the glue to dry. Once dry, dump the excess glitter into a container to reuse. If you don’t want to worry about making a mess with glitter, there’s also the option of using glitter glue to make the designs, then letting it dry.
Colored paper cutouts
To add a little more texture and clean lines to your wrapping paper, you can add paper cutouts to it. Choose a few colors of construction paper and cut out designs. Glue the cutouts onto the wrapping paper
Additional items
Wrapping paper isn’t the only thing that can make gifts look great. Using a combination of ribbons, string and other additional pieces to decorate your wrapped presents can make them look festive and unique.
Plant foliage
Add small branches from evergreen trees such as fir, pine or spruce to give your packages a wintery feel. You can also grab some holly and tie it to your wrapped present for another Christmas-related decoration.
Ribbon and string
Accompany your handmade wrapping paper with matching ribbon or string. You can find a wide ribbon for large packages and tie elaborate bows or you can use thin, string-like twine to tie around gifts.
Miniature ornaments
Find small ornaments you can tie onto the gift with string or ribbon. There are plenty of different designs to choose from that will match any type of wrapping paper.
Gift tags
Cut out gift tags from construction paper. Either punch a hole in one side and tie it onto your package or use double-sided tape to attach it to the wrapping paper. You can also decorate the tags with paint, markers, stamps, etc.
Start wrapping!
Now that you’ve got some ideas for DIY Christmas wrapping paper, it’s time to get to work! Whether you’re making your own gifts or buying the perfect present, you can use your own creativity to make wrapping paper that represents how much you care about the people you’re giving presents to. Happy wrapping!
Source: rent.com