DIY: Holiday Giftwrap

If you feel like getting crafty with your Christmas gifts this year, we have a DIY for you–we've created our own holiday wrapping paper that can also be used for other occasions:

What you'll need:

-colorful acrylic paints (they dry quickest)
-brown butcher paper
-plastic stencil sheets (you can buy it in small sheets at Michaels)
-paintbrushes
-X-acto knife

What to do:

1. Draw your design on to your plastic stencil sheet with a pen (if you mess up, you can simply wipe off the pen with a wet paper towel).
2. Cut out the shape with an X-acto knife.

3. Lay out your butcher paper on a large flat surface.
4. Place your newly created stencil onto the butcher paper and begin painting inside the stencil. (We created Otomi stencils and used several different colors inside some figures, and a single color for others.)

5. Lift your stencil off of the butcher paper when you're done with your design and move on to the next.
6. Clean excess paint from your stencils (i.e. paint that has built up around the edges from using them over and over again) as you go.