How to Make Christmas Wrapping Paper

I love to wrap gifts, but finding cute wrapping paper can be hard. So, I made my own Christmas red wrapping paper, and I love it.

Years ago, I used styrofoam plate printing to make art in my son’s elementary school classes. I knew someday I would find a way to use this creative printing method again. I can’t wait to see what you think of my red wrapping paper.

The Perfect Craft to Share with Kids

Before I start the DIY, I wanted to share one thought.

Imagine how cute this wrapping paper would look if YOUR CHILDREN DREW THEIR DESIGNS on the styrofoam. They could draw Santas, wreaths, snowmen, candy canes, or Christmas trees!

I think that would make your gifts so special!

What You Will Need to Make My Wrapping Paper

Styrofoam plates

Craft or wrapping paper

Craft knife and mat

Acrylic paints – Crimson Red

Brayer (you will need two. One to apply the paint and one to press down your stencil.)

Cardboard

Yardstick

Step-by-Step Instructions

The first step is to cut a cardboard pattern for your styrofoam design. This pattern should be the total size of the styrofoam stamp you will make and use.

Cut out five or six pieces from the styrofoam plate using your cardboard template. Then, use the craft knife to cut out the cupboard.

If you use different designs of the same shape (as I was doing with a tree), cut out a tree stencil. This will ensure the styrofoam stamps are the same size and have different hand-drawn designs.

Using a pen or pencil, draw your design on the styrofoam. Re-trace your design (pressing hard but not too hard to tear the styrofoam) to ensure the indentation is well-defined. This helps with the printing. (Please note, if you use words, the letters need to be written backward, or else they will print backward.)

As you can see, I made five different designs with the same tree outline. I quickly made up the designs and wanted them to be different but not have to spend too much time focusing on the designs.

Feel free to copy my designs if you want. You could also make ornaments, wreaths, or candy canes.

Pour some of the acrylic paint on a larger paper plate and roll the brayer in the paint. Try to get an even amount of paint on the brayer.

Roll the paint lightly on top of the stencil, covering it completely.

Gently place the stencil face down on the craft paper. Use the second brayer (which does not have paint!) to press the stencil down on the paper. Pull the stencil off as soon as you are done with the brayer. (It can dry and stick to the paper if you wait too long.)

Don’t spend too much time trying to make the stenciling perfect. I love that it’s a tiny bit messy because it looks vintage. I think it looks better if it’s not perfect.

Continue these same steps, and you line up the stencil on the paper and continue to cover the paper.

Look how great this looks! I didn’t measure the space between the stamps. Rather, I just “eyeballed it” because I wanted this to look like vintage Christmas wrapping paper. I did have a yardstick nearby to help me keep the rows straight.

Once the paper is dry, you can begin to wrap your presents.

You can find so many ribbons these days to enhance your packages. Look how adorable these ribbons are. They enhanced my packages, and I love how they turned out.

Ribbons for Your Packages

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I hope you enjoyed this DIY. It is easy, fast, and the outcome is so much fun.

More Wrapping Paper Ideas

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