GIFT WRAPPED // STENCIL DESIGN

Alright, let's get this started. You can see the "rules" here, but basically I asked 5 of my creative friends to come up with an easy and effective way to wrap gifts. Matt is a graphic designer, so naturally he got fancy with a stencil. 

W H A T  Y O U  N E E D :
- Brown recycled wrapping/packaging paper
- Craft Knife
- Paper/card
- Pen (if you're drawing your own stencil)

T H E  E X T R A S :

Paint

1 x sponge

Obviously this is a very straight forward process, but you can make it as simple or as detailed as you want depending on how long you want to be cutting the stencil out for.

First you must decide on your artwork. You can make something simple on a computer or you can draw it by hand. If you make it on the computer you will have to either use paper as the stencil or you could stick that paper to card so the stencil is sturdier and will hold it's shape better. Just keep in mind the simpler the artwork the less work you will be creating for yourself.

Now it's time to cut out the stencil. Because I am a crazy person, I weirdly enjoy this part, but for most people it will probably be a tedious and lengthy process. Depending on how detailed the stencil you are making is, and how careful / particular you are when cutting it out, this really can take quite a while. So be prepared to get cramp in your hand for holding that craft knife for too long. 

All done? Great! That last 5 hours of that stencil just flew past. Now to paint. If you haven't done already, wrap you damn present. and I probably should have mentioned to create your stencil so it fits nicely within the shape of your present. My bad if it's too late.

HINT : I cut my sponge into 4 smaller sponges to make it easier to dip into the paint without having to use the whole giant sponge.

Put the paint in a container of some sort, lay the stencil on the present, and start painting. If you want you can stick the stencil down with a bit of celotape but usually this paper is fairly unrelenting and doesn't like adhesive tape being pryed off it once it has bonded so be careful. I just hold my stencil in place, which usually goes pretty well.

Apply the paint as you wish but I just slowly dip the end of the sponge into the paint and tab it over the stencil. Gives it a bit of a stamp effect, but do as you wish.

Viola, you're basically done. Now just let it dry and clean up your mess you slob.

Haha! Matt, your instructions were awesome, and of course so was your gift wrap idea! A stencil is such a good idea, and I love that you can come up with any design you like!

 

you can see the other great ideas here

G I F T W R A P P E D x 6