DIY Stenciled Gift Wrap

Hello everyone, Karen Brown here! This post is on the Altenew Mixed Media blog and I also wanted to post it on my site as well.

I am so excited to show you how I created my stenciled DIY gift wrap. I love wrapping gifts and wanted to make some custom packaging for my daughter’s birthday and I knew Altenew stencils would be perfect for my projects. I spent an enjoyable afternoon creating the paper and wrapping my gifts. I used three favorite Altenew stencils: Bubble Wrap, Mega Bloom and Leaves and Berries.

HOW I CREATED MY GIFT WRAP:

1. I had two colors of kraft paper plus a Gable Box in my craft room so I used them as the base for my projects. I sorted through my Altenew stencils and picked three that I thought would be beautiful on gift wrapping:
   • Altenew Bubble Wrap Stencil
   • Altenew Mega Bloom Stencil
   • Altenew Leaves and Berries Stencil
2. I used painters tape to adhere my stencil to the kraft paper.
3. I selected six bright fun shades of acrylic paint and squirted a dollop of each onto a plate. Using a stencil brush, I dipped the brush into the paint and then dabbed the brush on a paper towel. Too much paint on the brush will result in smeared stenciling. Next, using a circular motion, I applied the paint through the stencil opening. I went both clockwise and counter clockwise. I found the smaller brushes worked better than the larger sizes and I used one brush for each color.
4. On the Bubble Wrap project, after I filled the stencil, I carefully lifted up my stencil and lined it up and filled it three more times so I would have a big enough sheet to cover the journal I was going to wrap.

PRO TIPS:

• I found using high-contrast colors made for bright fun wrapping. I selected colors that stand out from the kraft background.
• The stencils work best when when the paint is not too wet. I loved working with it right before it dried out.

My daughter wanted a new journal so I made the Bubble Wrap paper specifically to wrap this cute bee themed gift. All it needed was a simple twine bow.

The finished package is so happy and fun!

This Gable Box was very quick to create and the Mega Bloom stencil makes for a big showy design.

I really enjoyed creating this custom gift wrap and I hope you found some inspiration. I love reading your comments so if you have a moment, let me know what you think about the gift wrap. Thanks for stopping by!

Karen