Easy stamp to create for wrapping paper

Lots of surprises are being created in the studio and so you'll just have to wait until December 25th to see what is inside these sweet homemade parcels.

Until then, here's a cute way to get your kids involved in the holiday wrapping.  This is simply brown craft paper I picked up at our local hardware store. 

(where I happened to be for a few other art supplies because the hardware store is still the best kept secret for art supplies)

This is the last week of regular art classes before breaking for the holidays and so classes are all about finishing up everything to take home, wrap up gifts, and just enjoy each other until we convene in January.

The challenge is some kids finish projects way before others and I need some projects that can be finished prior to class ending.  And so for those kids with gifts to wrap and time on their hands, I introduced a project where they created their own original designed wrapping paper.

Using just found objects and paint, the cutest ever paper can be part of anyone's holiday season.

And it involves drinking wine, so hello, best. project. EVER!

Any cardboard will do for your base, I happened to use the back of an art paper pad that was empty because I have lots on hand.  I cut this cardboard into a 3x4.5 inch rectangle.

Then cut a styrofoam plate to the same size and glued it on top of the cardboard. 

(I used a hot glue gun, but any glue will do if you have time to wait for it to dry completely)

Then I gave the kids another styrofoam plate, where I had cut off the rim, to cut into shapes to create a stamp.  

Glue this on top of the styrofoam plate created with the cardboard. 

(again, I used hot glue because we wanted to use it immediately)

Then with a dull pencil, the kids can draw in any features if they want.

And here's the best part, the part where you need to drink a bit of wine, glue a cork on the cardboard side of the plate so the stamp is easy to hold.

I taped the kraft paper down so it didn't continue to roll up and gave the kids a small bit of paint and a paintbrush.  They lightly painted their image and began to stamp. They had so much fun.

When finished the above student then took a permanent black marker and wrote "Ho Ho Ho" intertwined throughout his images. 

That's it.

Simple. Sweet. And sure to bring smiles to those who are gifted these lovely wrapped packages.

Happy Holidays Everyone!