Christmas is truly here when you’re surrounded by all your gifts, glass of mulled wine in hand and ready to wrap. This year we teamed up with Deborah Brett for wrapping paper ideas that are sustainable and have a homemade touch.
Make your gifts the ones under the tree that your loved ones reach for first, with woodblock festive print wrapping, featuring Christmas trees, snowflakes, the possibility are endless – the perfect crafting activity for the whole family.
Roll of recycled brown paper
Acrylic paint
Sponge
Foam mat
Wooden stamp
Ribbon from past gifts, string or twine
Foliage from the park, garden, flower market
Baubles or old Christmas decorations
Start by laying your foam mat on your kitchen table or work surface.
Lay your paper on top.
Put a small 50p size dollop of acrylic paint onto a small saucer. You can even add a few different colours at the same time to create an ombré effect.
Dab your sponge into the paint and transfer to the printing block. I used different types of snowflakes and trees to decorate my paper.
The trick is making sure the whole block is covered in paint but not too much.
Then choose your position on the paper, press firmly and lift. You should have a lovely, printed shape.
Then repeat. Don’t worry if they aren’t all perfect. The patina of hand printing and things not being perfect simply adds to your wrapping paper’s charm.
As you are using acrylic, your paper will dry fast. Make sure to wipe your block clean rather than soaking in water.
I use green Scotch magic tape. A plant-based adhesive. It also uses recycled plastic and cardboard for its packaging.
I use ribbon from past gifts that I’ve saved throughout the year. Or used coloured string or twine.
I use old Christmas ornaments to add a dash of sparkle to my gifts.
Try collecting leaves from your garden or park and spray paint using metallic colours. Although I’ve noticed florists selling metallic asparagus fern sprigs if you would rather not spray paint yourself.
I use pinecones, berries and dried limes from my old wreaths to give presents a Christmas twist.
If you fancy make wool pom poms in different colours to add to gifts instead of baubles. Choose a range of sizes and colours.
I adore Covent Garden flower market. It’s filled with gems for decorating your own wreaths, trees and gifts.
Once you have wrapped your gift and added ribbon or twine add a few pieces from the above list to the centre and tie them in place with a knot and a bow. I love making each gift individual but maybe grouping all my gifts in one colour theme.
I added recyclable brown craft tags to label each gift. I used a white or silver pen to write the name on. Or you could use my biscuit recipe from my last Christmas post for Monsoon to make your own personalised gingerbread name tags.
