Christmas is inching closer. Only three weekends left to do your gift shopping, decorating and yummy goodies baking. Here we have another DIY weekend project if you’re up for it.
This is for those who want to give gifts with a personal touch, whether it be homemade wrapping paper or Christmas cards.
Hand stamped Christmas Wrap:
Don’t want to spend six dollars on a roll of glossy generic smily snowman gift wrap? Why not make your own? It’s simple, fun for the whole family and it certainly makes your gift unique and personal. All you need to do is clear out a flat surface to lay out your paper (preferably recycled!) and hold the end down with some weights (cups, books, soup cans…)
Gather your Christmasy themed stamps. Reindeer, angels, snowflakes, holly – you name it. Don’t forget your ink!
For patterns, generally you just want to pick a corner and stamp your way down. Space out each stamp if you want to mix and match stamps. You can stamp stripes, repeating or at random, just make sure each stamp gets a good enough free space around it. You’ll get a good feel for it and discover what you like in patterns and explore that. Stamp away! Reapply your ink when needed.
Switch up inks if you want. Alternate colours, alternate stamps. You can even take crayons or pencil crayons and colour in the stamps for some added colour and texture.
Christmas Cards
Every year I usually give out cards rather than presents (that is if I remember to send them out). I find that you can really customize your card to the person you send it to, get really crafty and that they keep it for a much longer time than, say, your store bought card. Here’s a way to make your own card, even if you feel like you have no artistic talent whatsoever.
Start off with your materials. If you have children doing this, make sure the scissors are safe and that an adult it supervising. We don’t want any fingers to be accidentally snipped!
Size your blank card paper. Keep in mind that if you’re sending it off to relatives, you’d want the card to fit in a standard envelope. Fold it in half.
Take your coloured paper and draw out some fun Christmas shapes. You can download a veriety of templates off the internet. Cut out the shapes, trace them onto your coloured sheets and cut those out. Make sure they’re small enough for your card!
After cutting out your shapes, you can start arranging them however you like. I’ve got some giant holly design going on here. Glue them down. Don’t forget to have a little fun with glitter! Here you can get a little wild with the sparkle.
Write your greeting or a special message. The inside is free game. And voila, handmade Christmas card for your loved ones!
