Wrapping a gift in a unique way is a great way to show your care. Aware that much wrapping paper is not easily recycled, we asked our friend Jemima Frankel from 64 million artists to share her tips on making unique and recyclable wrapping paper.
It’s the most wonderful time, of the year! Twinkly lights, twinkly eyes, and…108 million roles of wrapping paper in the bin (in the UK alone.) How can we keep the season wonderful, not wasteful? Let's get creative and replace the rubbish with recycling, and the expense of pounds with pennies.
Add a personal touch to your gifts and get crafty with the things around you this Christmas.
Recyclable brown paper is an excellent and cost efficient base to inspire simple yet effective decoration. You will find it in your local newsagent or art shop.
Idea #1 Prints and Drawing
Prints are a simple way to add a personal touch to your wrapping paper. To print you’ll need your brown paper surface to print on, something to make a mark (like paint or ink but it could be anything; coffee, lipstick, mustard) and an object to print with.
- Carve a shape into half a potato and use it as a stamp.
- Put a leaf underneath the paper and rub over it with a wax crayon.
- Thumbprint characters! Use your thumbs to create the character shapes, then add detail with pen.
- Got little people? You could decorate your paper with paint-ey hand and footprints!
- Black pen can add eye catching decoration – write the name of the person receiving the gift in calligraphy, create patterns, draw a festive silhouette.
Idea #2 Collage
…get crafty! All you’ll need here is a selection of newspapers, magazines, old christmas cards and pens.
- Cut snowflakes out of old newspapers or magazines, to create a snowy scene on your paper.
- Cut strips of coloured paper, magazines, newspapers to create your own washi tape style decoration.
- Use old Christmas cards to get crafty. Cut and stick images from last years cards to add a festive touch.
- Use newspaper and old magazines as the wrap itself. Simple, yet effective!
Idea #3 Fabric Wrap
Keeping it simple?
- Make the most of any old Christmas tablecloths, tea towels or pillow cases by wrapping your presents in it! You could secure it with a bow, ribbons of fabric or with eco-twine.
- Use the abundance of berries, holly leaves and festive foliage around us to add a special touch to your wrap. Simply tuck it in place using eco twine to attach it to your gift.
These are just a few ideas to get you started decorating your own wrapping paper – what would you add to the list? Wishing you happy creating, and a very Happy Christmas.
Jemima is the Community Coordinator at 64 Million Artists, a national campaign to unlock the creativity of everyone in Britain. The project promotes creative practice as being as beneficial to a person's well-being as regular exercise and healthy eating. Each day in January 64 Million Artists will send out a short creative challenge which takes 5 or 10 minutes to complete. Last year 7,500 people signed up. You can sign up here.
