Easy Gift Tags and Wraps Kids Can Make Now

Rummaging for potatoes in my pantry the other day, I found a few shriveled specimens. Rather than toss them, I made potato stamps so that Little N could create some easy holiday tags and wraps after school.

I’ve done this activity with the grandkids before, but the art project has evolved since then. For one thing, Amazon rarely uses paper to stuff boxes, so instead of using recycled packing paper, I used part of a roll of Ikea paper meant for the kids’ easel (98-foot roll for $3.99).

While not as environmentally friendly as reusing packing paper, this gift wrap can be recycled, unlike some of the slick Christmas wrapping destined for the black bin. Learn the rules for recycling wrapping paper here.

For step-by-step instructions for making a potato stamp, check out this post. But you can get the general idea from the photo below.

The trick is to use cookie cutters with simple shapes. Too much detailing may make it hard to cut out the stamp and hard to get a clean print.

Once you’ve made your stamps, you simply brush the paint on the stamp and stamp it on the paper with a sharp thwack for the best impression. Do not use a stamp pad because the raw potato juices will ruin it.

Beyond Basic Gift Tags and Wraps

Here are a few other things you can do with your stamped paper:

• Enhance the design by filling in with markers or felt-tip pens. For example, make faces on the gingerbread men or draw ornaments and lights on the trees. You don’t have to add details to all the stamped patterns; actually, it would be more interesting to add them just here and there
• If there is too much white space between stamps, make dots to fill the space by pressing the tip of a thick felt marker into the paper.
• Another good look is to add a message stamp. I used a clear word stamp, “Jingle all the way,” to give Little N’s gift wrap a more polished appeal (see the first photo of the wrapped gift above). If your stamp doesn’t “take” perfectly, fill in with a matching colored pen.
• We used three stamp shapes: gingerbread man, Christmas tree, and star to make greeting cards for mom and dad, and a matching gift tag for the gift wrap.

Making Gift Tags from Christmas Cards

Another useful recycling project is to make gift tags out of old Christmas cards. Simply cut the tags with scissors or a paper cutter for rectangles or squares. Or use paper punches for other shapes.

To finish, you can buy “to and from” stamp from Etsy or another supplier. But of course, it’s just as fine to skip this step and handwrite the tag.

Here are the paper punches I used:

I bought all of mine on sale at Joann. These are the prices I found at this writing on Tuesday, but they may very well have gone up by the time you read this post. Just keep watching for sales at Joann, Michaels, or other craft stores.

• Fiskars tag punch measures 2 inches by 3 inches. It was $16.99 at Joann (normally $33.99) on Tuesday, November 30.
• Marvy Uchida circle punch is about 3 inches in diameter. This size doesn’t seem available anywhere for this brand, but there are other brand choices.
• Fiskars scallop punch is about 3 1/4 inches in diameter. It was $14.99 at Joann (normally $29.99) on Tuesday, November 30.

In the end, if you go the extra mile when making gift tags and wraps, looking for paper punches and word stamps, depending on the number of gifts you give, it may cost you more than just buying everything pre-made at the store.

But if, like me, you hate to see anything go to waste and you and your grandkids love crafting, it’s fun and satisfying to make these gift tags and wraps together.

Coming next week, we’ll do a sweet Christmas table setting that the grandkids can help with, too!

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