I will say this much, I wrapped my presents this way during a December that didn't require much other responsibility on my part. We were preparing to move overseas and we had already moved out of our own house. At the time, we were staying at my parents' house, I was no longer teaching, and I only had a 4-month old to take care of (which meant lots of sleeping on his part and not a whole lot of mobility when he was awake).
All that to say, I'll let you decide if this is a wrapping project for you. The end product turns out really great and it would probably make a great project for any older children you have around the house who have "nothing else to do."
Supplies needed:
- brown craft paper or brown paper bags or solid-colored wrapping paper
- a used book from which you're fine cutting pages or a newspaper (but... the thicker the paper, the better)
- exacto knife/ scissors
- alphabet template, (a variety of font options available for download here )
- glue stick or matte mod podge
You'll first want to wrap your presents with the craft paper. Mark lightly with a pencil to whom the gift belongs so you label the gifts accordingly later on.
Once you've printed out the alphabet template of your choice and selected the book/newspaper you want to use, you're going to want to set up a place to trace.
Ideally, you want to place the template on top of a good source of light (i.e. a window or a tracing table) and directly underneath the book page/newspaper. This saves a lot of time. However, I wasn't so lucky the time I did this project and ended up cutting out each of the letters I wanted to use from the template. Then, using an exacto knife, I traced/cut around the template letter from the newspaper. It was a risky move but I didn't want to add the extra step of tracing a letter onto the newspaper and THEN cutting it out. Two birds with one stone using the utility knife.
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| Photo Credit: Man Made DIY |
Once you have all the letters needed for the presents, apply those letters directly to the wrapping paper using a glue stick. As I mentioned before, I was no longer at my own house with all of my crafting supplies. All I had on hand was glossy mod podge. I figured it would work fine but later realized, after the glue had dried, the glossiness was pretty noticeable. Not the end of the world, obviously, but I would recommend using a glue stick or matte mod podge if noticeable mistakes like this irritate the mess out of you.
For an added touch, I wrapped a red ribbon around each present. I tied the ribbon differently for each gift so that it added a unique touch. For the oddly-shaped gifts, I wrapped with burlap fabric.
To save some time, label with each person's nickname/initials. You'll thank me for that tip later.
What are some creative ways you've wrapped a gift?
Have any other projects you wouldn't mind sharing with others?
I'd encourage you to link up to these 2 parties that I co-host:
So cute! What a pretty and unique idea! I wish I had seen this before I wrapped all of my gifts! I'm pinning to use for other holidays/birthdays. Thanks so much for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThanks! The presents looked great under the tree. I'm really impressed that you'e already wrapped all over your gifts. Way to go!
DeleteAlicia
I find this post hilarious b/c the Christmas Truette was born (and 4 months old), I made all these elaborate bows for each present...grandparents, siblings...crazy. Too much time on my hands I guess and I guess it was something i could do while watching reruns of Dawson's Creek on TBS.
ReplyDeleteHaha! I truly had NOTHING else to do. I was getting a little stir crazy sitting around a house with just my thoughts. Imagine what the 2 of us could have done together (read: superb creations from felt). ;-)
DeleteSo fun Alicia! I just bought a ton of kraft paper for wrapping! I will have to try this!
ReplyDeleteThanks Tori! It was the perfect project for me that year because my mom just so happened to have a large roll of craft paper and some ribbon in her closest under the stairs....just beggin' to be used ;-)
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