• I am cheap.

    It really is no secret. But my tendency to be cheap makes me be a bit crafty too. For example, designing my own wrapping paper. You might think its tacky, but I think it makes things look a bit rustic in a super classy way. I swear it.

    To make your own wrapping paper you will need a roll of art paper. Any color would suffice, but I prefer to use plain white. It’s the simplest and usually, the least expensive.

    Wrap your gift as you normally would. Best part here, with a solid colored paper you don’t have to get super OCD about making the seams line up. What? I cannot be the only one who does this! After your gift is wrapped up comes the fun part. The decorating.

    To decorate our paper I use washable paints and sponges.

    Cut your sponges in shapes that are Christmassy. We chose Christmas trees, ornaments, and stars for our sponges.

    Choose your paint colors and place them in dishes that will fit the sizes of your sponges. If your kids are like mine, they will need the reminder to wipe excess paint of of their sponges before stamping. If they don’t you might get some drips or the tie-dye effect. Drips aren’t always cute.

    You can also use regular stamps with regular ink pads too if your kids are coordinated enough to do so.

    And of course, if you have very little ones, pick out some Christmassy markers and just let them decorate to their hearts content.

    My absolute favorite touch when making my own paper, is signing the finished masterpiece. My daughter loves it when I write, “hand stamped by:” and then let her sign her name. Just another way to give some ownership and joy into the gift giving process. And save money. And be crafty. Win, win.