As the Holiday's swiftly approach, I have been brainstorming ways to get Owen more involved in the meaning of the season. It's so much more than the gifts themselves. It's about taking a little extra time to put others first. To make them feel special and show our love in a multitude of ways.
I wanted Owen to not only help me shop and find the perfect gift for our family and friends, but also take it one step further and help me wrap them with love. That brought me to this, a classic craft I used to do as a kid. Potato stamp paper!
It's so simple but man, we had so much fun and he just beams with pride every time he sees his masterpieces under the Christmas tree.
What you will need: Paints (I used these and they were great!) // A roll of plain Kraft Paper // Potatoes // Knife (for carving out shapes) // Sharpie. Optional additions: Pom Poms // Hot Glue Gun and Glue sticks // Yarn and or string
The best part about this, is that it is completely up to you. There is zero wrong way to do this! You simply cut a potato in half, cut out a shape to create the stamp and dip in paint and stamp away! We started with simple trees!
We repeated this exact process with Snow flakes, Gingerbread, Rudolph and a string of lights! For the Gingerbread men, we stamped the simple man shape first and then went back in with a small paint brush for details after they were dry. For the string of lights, I first drew the "string" with a black sharpie and had Owen put his thumb prints for the lights along the line. And for our very favorite one, the Rudolph, We simply sliced a small red potato in half, stamped the heads with brown and let them dry. We then went back with a spot of hot glue and glued a pom pom for his nose, and used Owens finger in white paint for the eyes. After all that was dry, I went in with a sharpie for the antlers and the blacks of the eyes!
Once all dry, we had plenty of sheets of wrapping paper to get to wrapping!
Now it was time to wrap! We gathered yarn, which I always opt for over ribbon, because it is way easier to manipulate, tape, gift tags, a sharpie and pom poms! We made a rudolph and a snowman with hot glue and pom poms in addition to these printed papers. I must admit, this is by far my favorite holiday craft of the season. Owen was so invested, we spent hours creating paper together, with Christmas music blasting, getting messy and having the best time!
If you do this, PLEASE tag us on Instagram. Nothing makes me happier than seeing people use our blog ideas! It fills me with pure Joy! I hope you all have a great Holiday season, get messy, get creative and make your gifts a little extra special this year!
XOXO, Megan