DIY: Potato Stamp Wrapping Paper

The smell of a field of Christmas trees on a frosty morning is enough to bring me to tears. It is the promise of the magic of an entire month. It means that decor can start to overflow into the house, that the room will be filled with twinkling lights. It means parties and dinners and the Nutcracker on a freezing cold night, the anticipation of a rare Christmas snow. And it means that presents get to come out of their little cupboards and hiding spots to be wrapped up in ribbon and put out on display. 

My love for, and anticipation of, Christmas is quite probably cloying to others around me and Ben keeps me on a short decor leash come mid-November. Last week, though, we spotted a teensy little potted spruce for sale. And then I saw some glittery birds to add to my table decor. And once the birds and little spruce were up in the corner of the room, I lit my Glade Sparkling Spruce candle and plugged in my Glade Plugins Scented Oil Warmer and our whole house was warm, light, and full of the smell of a wintry forest and all the best piney bits of the season. Each waft of the candle and each time I opened the door to the house and caught a scent of pine, I felt like we had cheated a bit and snagged some of the season before the season had a chance to truly start. That's the magic of it, I suppose, that you let it start to creep into your heart and hearth and all the sudden, your Thanksgiving menu seems much important than sitting, snuggling in front of the Christmas tree breathing in the whole season.

My first DIY project of the holiday season started here, in a mist of spruce smell. I wrapped the first gift I had ready to go and decided (in keeping with my kraft paper obsession) to make a potato stamp (cheap and easy folks!) to DIY my wrapping paper. Read below for instructions!

You'll need:

1 potato

A knife

An ink pad (black, green, red all work)

1 roll of brown kraft paper

Twine

Paper towels

Tape

Slice a potato in half (hamburger style) so that you clearly have the end of the potato as a "handle" and can use the exposed surface to carve in your shape. Use a pen or pencil to draw out the shape of your item (a tree, a monogram, a stocking or candy cane shape, holly). Be sure that if you want to do a monogram you carve it in the reverse as the image will always appear reversed when stamped.

Cut away the sides of the potato's surface that you do not want appearing on your stamp (remove about 1/8-1/4" of potato, leaving the design raised). Be careful as it can be a bit slippery and unwieldy. Probably not a piece of this project for kids. Once you have carved out your design, dry off your potato and stamp away. The potato stamp will come out a bit imperfect but that is its rustic charm!

Do you have any seasonally awesome DIYs? Share! I'd love to hear how you wrap gifts!

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.