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Personalized Holiday Wrapping Paper

I'll admit it. One of my favorite things about Christmas and the holiday season is wrapping gifts. I love wrapping paper of all kinds, and have quite an imposing collection of it (i.e. the whole hall closet) but I also love to make my own. Here are some tips if you're interested in making your own Christmas or holiday wrapping paper.

Come up with a theme for this wrapping paper...do you adore snowflakes or Christmas tree ornaments, are are you more of a simple, clean wrapping paper person? Deciding on a design theme before beginning will help you keep your wrapping paper unified, clean and professional looking, and will be sure to impress family and friends.

I tend to use two kinds of base paper when I'm personalizing my wrapping paper: thick brown or clean white stock paper. When I'm going for a more rustic or antique feel with my wrapping paper design, I tend to use the brown, while white is ideal for bright, upbeat designs.

To begin, I usually pencil the design I plan to use in on my paper to make sure that it sits well on the page and is even. One of my favorite wrapping paper designs so far was something I made for a friend who had just returned from an extended stay in Japan. I bought a thick black calligraphy marker, printed out characters of the Japanese alphabet and copied smaller versions of them in a pattern on a sheet of brown stock paper. Once I had wrapped her present--a set of beautiful Japanese teacups--I tied a silky, thick black grosgrain ribbon around the package and had a beautiful end result that spoke perfectly to my friend's favorite culture.

Some other ideas for personalizing wrapping paper include: cutting sponges into classic holiday shapes (Christmas tress, stars, snowmen, etc.) and spongepainting a pattern on your wrapping paper, using the pattern left by pinecones dipped in paint to make an outdoorsy themed wrapping paper or stenciling creative snowflake designs onto your paper and coloring them in with light blue marker. You might also consider drawing out a snowy village scene on each side of your Christmas or holiday present package if you've got some extra time.

The great thing about personalized wrapping paper is that, along with the gift you're giving, it lets the recipient know that you took the extra time to make something special for him or her. Personalizing wrapping paper is also a great way to get your kids involved in the holiday planning process and let them do something special for their friends and family members. Have fun!

Enjoy Planning.
Penelope