DIY printed wrapping paper & Washi Tape

I have lots of birthdays and weddings coming up in the next few months, so along with looking for the perfect gifts, I've been looking for the perfect packaging to put them in. Most of the Washi Tapes and wrapping paper that I've come across are either way too expensive or just not 'special' enough. So, I decided to get my craft on and produce my own. I am, in general, pleased with the results. The paper looks quite shabby and 'hand-made' which I quite like but think I will use ink for my next batch so the paper doesn't crinkle as much and the finish is better.

Wrapping Paper DIY

I bought a 6m roll of brown 'Kraft' paper from Wilkinsons  for £1 and used some acrylic paints I already had. I just added a bit of water to the paint to thin it down a little. I bought a bag of mixed make-up sponges from Poundland to use as stamps and used anything else I had lying around at home I though would make a nice print.

Using the inner cardboard roll from toilet tissue makes a great printing tool as you can fold and manipulate the card into different shapes. I found that folding in into a pointed oval shape made great flower petals. Also, you can simply press and wiggle paintbrushes down in such a way that they also resemble flower petals, as seen above.

Here are the finished results : 

The options are endless with making your own paper. Colours, prints, styles, themes, metallic paint, glitter etc etc!

Go wild!

Washi Tape DIY

Washi tape has been around for quire some time now. For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, it is a decorative masking tape originating from Japan. The tape has the properties of Japanese rice paper with a delicate  and tactile surface and semi- translucent opacity...Fab! But, it can be super expensive to buy! I've come up with my own spin on Washi Tape simply using decorative papers and double sided tape. So, I guess some may argue it's not Washi Tape at all...but my inspiration is the afore-mentioned Japanese tape and the end result is similar.

All you need is double sided tape (3 rolls for £1 in the hardware section of Poundland) and some decorative paper. I have some stashed at home, but you can use anything you think is nice... newspaper, magazine articles, envelopes, music sheets, wallpaper, tissue paper...really, anything!

Take a look:

All you need to do is simply lay the double sided tape onto the paper and snip into strips...et voila!

Use your new tapes to jazz-up envelopes

Cut into shapes and add finishing touches

Use with your printed papers and co-ordinate or clash

Hope you've enjoyed this post and it's given you some creative ideas

Happy crafting!