The tutorial for this is pretty simple and straightforward. I shared a tutorial last year for making your own stamps, which you might find useful. All you need to make the stamps is craft foam, a wooden block (you know how you save all those scraps of wood?), scissors, and glue. You will also need fabric and acrylic paint.
Step 1 – Create Your Stamp
You could download a template or use pre cut foam shapes, if you’re worried about your sketching skills. I experimented with a few different shapes of Christmas trees, but settled on the simple triangular one. It doesn’t need to be perfect. In fact, one of the beautiful things about this kind of stamping is the unique and handmade look. Simply attach your foam shape to the wooden block. I used super glue because I didn’t want to wait for it to dry.
Step 2 – Stamp Your Fabric
I had a pattern in mind, but I didn’t sketch it out. I wanted mostly black trees, with one gold tree randomly on each row. I found that the best way to stamp is to dab the paint onto the stamp with a brush or a sponge, and then stamp onto your fabric. Your trees don’t need to be (and really shouldn’t be) perfect, but you want to be careful to not have extra paint splattered on the fabric. Just make sure before you stamp that there is only paint on the foam, and none on the wood.
Step 3 – Wrap Your Present
I was a little worried it would be difficult to nicely wrap a gift with fabric, but it really was very easy. I’m not sure how well it would work with an odd shaped gift, but it worked very well when wrapping this book. I wrapped the book just like I would a regular gift, using a little tape to secure it. Tying ribbons around the gift also helps keep the fabric secure, and I’m not sure how well the tape would hold over time without at least one ribbon. I tried out a few different looks with different ribbons.
Step 4 – Reuse!
This fabric wrapping paper can be used over and over again each year, and maybe even gifted from one person to another many times. The recipient could also use the unique stamped fabric you made them in a craft or sewing project. I love it when gift tags and wrapping paper are gifts in themselves. I love how my pattern turned out, I’m considering making more and framing it. What would you make with the fabric?
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