DIY Christmas Wrapping Paper: Decorating Paper

Once you have the basic paper for wrapping your Christmas gifts, you can decorate the paper in a variety of ways for a personalized touch.

1. Sponge Painting- A great project for kids, use a sponge or shower pouf to paint the paper with paint. You can use one color or do multiple coats in different colors, such as red and green, for a different look. Cut a regular kitchen sponge into a shape for sponge stamping.
    
2. Colored Pencils/Paint and Stencils- Colored pencils are definitely more labor intensive than a quick coat of paint over a stencil, but you can always do one special wrapping for your special someone.
    
3. Stamps- Decorate your paper with rubber stamps of holiday shapes, such as bells, reindeer or Christmas trees. If you don’t have any stamps, check out this step-by-step tutorial on how to make your own rubber stamps. For something even easier, cut a raw potato in half and draw a shape or use a cookie cutter as a guide. Cut out around the shape for a raised stamp.
    
4. Rolling Pin- Craft Chi demonstrates how to use a rolling pin and cork contact paper or adhesive foam to create a beautiful repeating design on paper. I’m envisioning a repeating design with snowflakes.
   
   
    
5. Wood-Grain- Martha Stewart shares a project for giving plain paper the elegant appearance of wood grain with a wood-graining tool much like a comb. This technique is called “faux bois.”
    
6. Appliqué- Cut shapes out of felt, fabric or even better, old Christmas cards, and affix to the paper. For an extra-special touch, you can sew the appliqué shapes onto the paper. If you are without a sewing machine, simply punch evenly-spaced holes around the shape with a pin, and sew with embroidering floss. You might need to affix a sturdier background of cardstock or felt before sewing on a smaller shape to keep the paper from ripping.
   
   
   
   If you like this project, we also suggest:
   
   DIY Christmas Gift Tags
   DIY Gift Box