Pinterest Inspired DIY 001; Chalkboard Wrapping Paper. *
Pinterest Inspired DIY 001; Chalkboard Wrapping Paper.
Yes yes yes yes the 001 suggests what you think people - we have a new series on our hands!!
My love of Pinterest knows no bounds and I have made no secret of it on my blog so this Christmas I thought I'd take on some Pinterest inspired DIYs and report the success (or failure) back on here. Capiche?
I intend to make this a seasonal series and try some DIYs out every season or holiday and put my creative juices (vom sick bleurgh vom) to good use, all kicking off with chalkboard inspired wrapping paper.
What you'll need;
- Presents
- Chalkboard wrapping paper (this set is from Talking Tables)
- Scissors
- Sellotape
- Ribbon/string
- Tags
- Bows
- Chalkboard pens
Method;
1. Cut your chalkboard wrapping paper to size, measure for the love of god I always underestimate how much I need and end up with a huge gap on one end.
2. Fold, wrap, secure.
3. Using a chalkboard pen draw your design, doodle, scribble, illustrate, write names in fancy typography - decorate your wrapping paper.
4. Attach labels, bow and string to complete the look (red and white works exceptionally well but I am a bit in love with some of the foliage designs below).
So the method might suggest, quite rightly, that it's the simplest DIY ever. I challenge anyone to fuck it up, even if you aren't all that good at illustrating or typography there are SO many examples you can take inspiration from on Pinterest you'll do great.
Chalkboard wrapping paper is such a simple yet unique way of packaging your gifts for Christmas but the ability to customise them yourself makes it so much more personal to your pals and family.
Talking Tables chalkboard wrapping paper is a really thick matte black paper which I LOVE. The texture feels really luxurious and once I added ribbon and bows it looked super classy and sassy.
Because the paper is so thick the packs only come with 2 sheets of paper which whilst both are pretty substantial in size, I used all the paper on 3 presents so if you want to wrap a lot I'd recommend getting a few packs. Each pack comes with red and white string which finishes it off perfectly and you can buy chalkboard label stickers too.
A few pointers I would make about the paper, as glorious as it is is it's so thick it actually makes wrapping flat square or rectangular presents quite difficult? Like it's a bit bulky to get that perfect crease and fold you want on those types of presents but I also wrapped a fabric item (no spoilers here) which was really squishy and it was absolutely perfect for that. I used normal Sellotape which stuck really well but because of the texture of the paper it looked a bit naff so I'd 100% recommend you pick up some festive washi tape because I think that'd look gorge.
Last thing to mention, the paper and labels come with chalkboard pens but I found them quite watery, they're great at first but they get a bit weak quite quickly but you can pick up a chalkboard pen from ebay for about a quid which will do the job fine. I also thought gold or silver pens might work really nicely too and I'd definitely try that next time.
Overall verdict?
A success.
I would probably steer clear of wrapping square and rectangular presents but it is PERFECT for those hard to wrap presents and I love the fact it's customisable. I am all about that simple matte life and I am in desperate need of more and more excuses to practice my handwritten typography.
I actually like leaving my present wrapping till the last minute because I love it so much but I wanted to give this post a go so I wrapped presents for friends I won't be seeing until January and it kept my need to wrap at a low. I'll probably last like another 2 weeks now. Maybe 10 days.
My Pinterest Inspiration;
Pin for later!
*The wrapping paper and labels in this post were sent to me for free as part of a Talking Tables Christmas goodie box but all wrapping paper skills and opinions are as always, my own.