Create Your Own Wrapping Paper

Did you know that from Thanksgiving to the New Year's holiday period, millions and millions of people throw away more trash than any other time of the year? Paper accounts for more than half of this extra waste and plenty of it comes from wasted gift wrapping papers. So, to help trim the trash and help keep the earth green, it is a good idea to create your own wrapping paper by using old newspapers, maps, magazines, or whatever you have at home.

Additional materials:

* Stamps and Ink Pad
* Decorative scissors
* Acrylic paint
* Paintbrush (artist brush)

You can unleash your hidden talent by creating paintings using old magazine or newspaper pages as canvass. You can also involve your children to create children's artworks which is perfect for wrapping presents to proud grandparents.

To make decorative wrapping paper, select a page of newspaper or join together several pieces of magazine pages by using a scotch tape (or whatever recycled paper you wish to use), as long as the paper will be large enough to wrap around your gift. Using an artist brush and any color from the acrylic paint that you like, gently paint the newspaper or magazine page to slightly blur the prints so that it shows through less and then let the paint dry for about an hour. Using a stamp, which you can buy on your favorite office/school supplies shop, randomly stamp images all over the paper. You should work over a protected area so as to avoid stamping on anything other than the wrapping paper. Stamp near and over the edge of the paper to have a uniform look. Again, put your creativity to work by experimenting - create lined images, randomly positioned or even circular patterns of shapes. Try using different types of stamps or combining different types of colors.

The best thing to do is to make several designs on different wrapping papers, each for a particular type of occasion so that you will have plenty to choose from when needed.

Tip: In the absence of a stamp, you could also use whatever alternatives you can find in your home. For instance, the sole of an unused baby shoe can be used to stamp small shoe prints on the wrapping paper - ideal for wrapping baby shower gifts. You could also try using decoratively sliced vegetables from your kitchen, ideal for wrapping house warming gifts. Experiment! There is no right or wrong way.