With the winter holidays right around the corner and the financial crisis looming over us all (from here to Japan), I thought that personalizing holiday gift wrap might help my family and me kick off the season right. I, for one, always feel upbeat after a session of stamping and painting.
To create our personalized tissue wrapping paper, Annabelle and I used foam stamps, found objects, paint brushes, tissue paper, and non-toxic paint. First, we poured white paint into an old yogurt container (wax paper works too) that was wide enough for us to reach with a paint brush. Then I quietly showed Annabelle how to paint her stamp with the non-toxic paint, and how to gently press the stamp against the flattened tissue paper. Together we firmly pressed each stamp and found object into the paper. Once the paint dried, we wrapped up our gifts and used old holiday bows to add a little “bling” to each package.
A great way to reduce holiday waste this season and get creative at the same time is to roll out easel paper and spend an hour or more with your children stamping, painting, and drawing. Not only is it a fun and creative way to spend an afternoon, but artful gift wrap is a great way to show loved ones and your children that giving is not necessarily about the gift itself but the energy and meaning behind each token. Plus, since easel paper would otherwise be used by you and your young artist(s), what better way to re-utilize it than to display it as your holiday gift wrap?
Are you planning to wrap holiday gifts this year? If so, what materials do you plan to use?
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{ 4 comments }
Shelley, I love that idea! I tend to save cards too (of all seasons and celebrations) and repurpose them in scrap booking and collages. Thanks for sharing this tip!
One thing my family did growing up was re-purpose holiday cards into fun gift tags. When Christmas was over we would cut up the cards (the old days when not all were photo cards!) and bend them to display a nice picture on the outside, and space to write on the inside!
Abbie, I like that idea. This past mothers’ day, I gave our mothers their gifts wrapped in shredded plastic bags (which we later recycled) and reusable shopping bags. And at an average cost of $1 per bag, it’s not too steep to get loved ones to help reduce consumption of plastic and paper bags.
For some gifts, I was thinking about sending them in a cute reusable shopping bag, maybe like the Envirosax bags. They’re kind of expensive compared to wrapping paper, but then they’re part of the gift.