You can easily create wrapping paper, or giftwrap, out of newspaper, white drawing paper on a roll, newsprint, etc. This can be done with the paper surface laid flat, or after you have wrapped the gift in it.
I created some giftwrap designs on brown kraft paper, after I wrapped the gifts. This gift was stamped with my hand-carved
Uptree Downtree stamps. Before I did that, I painted the blue hills. I used a gold metallic paint pen to add the treetop stars and golden snow flakes on the ground.
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| Handmade Giftwrap: Stamped & Painted |
I painted this manly plaid design in blue and green. Metallic gold and silver paint pens were used to finish the grid design. I also added a raffia tie.
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| Wrapping Paper: Handmade Plaid Design |
For this simple tree design, I first painted 3 hills in 2 colors of blue. Then, I used a small tree template as a reverse stencil and sponged green paint around it. I finished this gift with gold metallic paint pen for the star, tree outline and hill outline. My last touch was to create silver metallic snow flakes on the middle hill.
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| Giftwrap: Handmade With Stenciling |
For small gifts, grab a piece of regular 8 1/2 x 11" printer or drawing tablet paper and create a quick piece of sturdy giftwrap. This is how I began creating my
Heart Papers. This design started with leftover red paint from another project. I painted the hearts to salvage the paint. Over time, I added a stamped (foam roller) grid pattern in metallic copper and painted in green highlights.
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| Red Hearts Handpainted Paper By Artsy Craftery Design Studio |
This is a pretty striking black hearts hand-painted paper design isn't it? I think it would make an attractive giftwrap for a man, or someone who likes Goth-inspired themes. Again, I used leftover black paint to create the hearts. The fuchsia highlights were made with leftover paint also.
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| Black Hearts Hand-painted Paper Design by Artsy Craftery Studio |
Keep a folder, like I do, of various sizes of scrap paper to paint on. I always have a supply of hand-painted papers in various stages of completion. As you finish out each one, you'll always have a supply of unique giftwraps for small gifts. Only use your favorite designs to wrap gifts for other artists or crafters. Then, you won't have to suffer seeing your designs ripped apart and tossed into the round file. You know that fellow creatives will gingerly remove your masterpiece and cherish it, or even better, reuse it in the creation of a hand-bound book or collage. That would make you very happy!
To create your designs, make marks on paper with brushes, rubber/clear stamps, cut fruit, carved veggies, or any make-do tool, with anything that you can hold in your hand. Don't forget your fingers!
Looks like a cut potato was used to begin the creation of this watermelon slices paper.
This elegant blue slate bird giftwrap was created with a randomly-placed stamp. You can tell that the crafter angled the stamp differently for some of the prints.
How about creating a black wrapping paper with a white design. See how it's done at
Alisa Burke: Redefine Creativity.
You can paint a scene on your paper, or one of your favorite animals. Paint an animal, bird, fish or an insect that your gift recipient loves. You don't even have to use paint. Use markers or both.
Here's a simple paper design marked with color bars. You can use a brush, the long edge of a piece of paper or cloth folded, or even your finger.
I created this brown kraft paper design for a gift to my sister on her birthday. I used 3 different designs of small foam rollers. Actually, my tool is a mini paint roller with interchangeable heads. Three of the heads are made of yellow sponge with designs carved in. I started my design with dark blue in a horizontal bars pattern.
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| Blue horizontal bar pattern on handpainted paper. |
Next, I used the grid pattern to roll on orange acrylic paint. I didn't
have a design in mind when I started. I just chose some roller heads
that I wanted to try, and a paint scheme. My sister's favorite color is
blue. I chose the orange because it's complimentary, and the white to
relieve the heaviness of the dark paper and other paint colors.
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| Foam Roller Design Handmade Giftwrap |
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| Orange, Blue, White Hand-painted Paper By Artsy Craftery Design Studio |
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| Grid-design Hand-painted Wrap For Gifts |
I ended with a white pattern rolled with the vertical bar roller head. The white added a nice (here comes that word that you, like me, now hate)
POP of color.
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| Hand-painted Giftwrap by Artsy Craftery. |
I really like the design. Once the package was wrapped, the design reminded me of city lights in a megatropolis. From certain angles, the brown, blue and orange colors recede, and the white glows like window lights.
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| Gift Wrapped With Hand-painted Paper Design |
Yahoo.com offers some
great tips on quick routes to holiday gift-wrapping.
If you are good at image editing and uploading pics to websites, you can create your own wrapping paper at several POD sites. Upload your image and save your design. Place your order, and the website will produce your giftwrap and mail it to you. Some sites that offer this nifty service are:
Some Of The Blank Papers Available At Amazon:
