Thursday, December 17, 2009

Nature-al Gift Wrap

As much as I had planned having all the gifts wrapped and stacked by now, it just hasn't worked out that way. So, to get the little ones involved with the task, we put a little spin on the standard potato stamps with our own nature-stamped gift wrap. It was simple, fun, and has that "imperfect homemade charm" to it! My daughter, who loves to help wrap presents anyway, really loved wrapping presents in paper she made herself.

I took some blank paper that came as packing material with a shipment I received this week (hence the wrinkled look) and some acrylic craft paint. Add unused snippets of boughs and a few of our tree blocks from Christmas trees past, and we went to work.

I just love the way the grain from the wood shows through the stamped paint!



Roo found that by rolling the log instead of stamping it on one end only, she could recreate the look of an entire tree trunk imprint:

Such a fun way to spend a morning: Christmas carols playing in the background, cookies baking away in the oven, and stamping our own gift wrap. This day turned out to be one of the few times this Christmas season I actually felt like we had captured a quintessential holiday moment! Even though my youngest wasn't willing to get his hands dirty, he directed his big sister as to where to stamp and generally enjoyed the process as a spectator-sport only.

The wrapped gifts, complete with bows and tags look just precious as they wait to be placed under the tree on Christmas Eve. I think that this just might become one of our new holiday traditions!

4 comments:

  1. This is a lovely idea, using a tree block as stamp. The wrapping paper turned out beautifully!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you, Kelly! I like it too, even though it's a little on the creased and crinkly side. But, once it's wrapped around a box, those creases practically fade away. The tree blocks held up much better than the potato stamps did! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Such a great idea, I love homemade gift wrap:)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I agree, Linda. It adds such a nice homespun touch to the holiday. :) I think we'll be cranking out some more of this next year (plus I'm thinking about some stamped, homemade, and resuable bags for wrapping gifts too). I guess we're only limited by our imaginations!

    ReplyDelete