Homemade Wrapping Paper: A Fun Project For Just About Any Age!

Kid Printed Wrapping Paper

Wouldn’t you like to give gifts that look as cute as these do? Depending on the size of your gift list and how crafty you are, you may or may not be able to give homemade gifts, but you can certainly add a personal touch with some home made wrapping paper. Right? And if you involve the kids in this venture, they will feel so very proud to give gifts wrapped in the paper they made. So get started today, roll up the paper once it’s dry and set it aside to use when needed. Just make sure to have on hand some brightly colored ribbon in colors to match for the final touch. And you can even make gift tags with left over scraps— just too precious!

Printed Paper Designs

Here are the three designs we made. Large pieces of these would also look great on any wall— wrap the top around a dowel, cut a triangular point at the bottom and hang as a banner.

You’ll Need:

  • kid friendly paint
  • butcher paper or paper grocery store bags cut open
  • a variety of things for printing: wine corks, spoons, pencil tops, sponges, corrugated foam, a meat tenderizer
  • some ingenuity to find so many more things in your kitchen that would make great prints!

Printing Paper with paint1

How-To:

  1. Pour paint into small bowls or plates
  2. Dip object into paint, or apply paint to object with a paint brush
  3. Press object onto paper and lift 
  4. Continue experimenting and enjoy the process of learning a little bit about printing!

We decided to start with polka-dot paper, using wine corks and pencils to make dots. Dip the cork into some paint and press onto paper. Do the same with a variety of objects for dots of all sizes. My kids also used the corks to smear the paint around to make larger circles which was a great idea!

Printing Paper-with a spoon 

We also used corrugated foam (the kind used to protect precious fruits —like etrogs at Succos time), a spoon and even a meat tenderizing mallet to get some interesting prints.

And if you’re really adventurous, a continuation of this project would be to get some fabric paint and do the same process on an old sheet or even on some pillow cases! Heat set the paint according to the manufacturer’s instructions and you may just end up with some great gifts to wrap up as well!

Comments

8 responses to “Homemade Wrapping Paper: A Fun Project For Just About Any Age!”

  1. raizel Avatar
    raizel

    what a cute idea! especially with the ribbons as an added touch!
    sara rivka, do you know where to get this paper on a roll? its called butcher paper? where to get it? I remember laying down on unrolled manilla colored paper as a kid and someone would trace our body and then we would fill it in! Its the same type of paper as this..

  2. Sara Rivka Avatar

    Hi Raizel! The roll that I used I bought at Ikea in Israel years ago, but I really dont know where to get this elsewhere….would love to know, so let me know
    if you come up with anything. Its great to use as giant coloring or fingerpainting paper on the floor too…..

  3. Stephanie Avatar

    I love this idea!

  4. Sara Rivka Avatar

    Thanks so much Steph. We made this a few weeks ago as our first holiday project, and now I realize that with Chanukah right around the corner, we need some more!

  5. Jeanne Barton Avatar
    Jeanne Barton

    You can get paper rolls at teacher supply stores, or I have seen paper rolls in Costco by the plastic wrap and foil.

  6. Amy Meltzer Avatar

    we used poster/tempera paints and the paint started flaking off when it dried. any suggestions?

  7. Sara Rivka Avatar

    Hi Amy, that can happen when too much paint is used, and especially kids paints which due to their ingredients dont have any body to them like acrylic paints. So either go very light with the paint, use more absorbant paper, or change to higher quality paint. happy crafting!

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