Hello Christmas loves, you didn’t think I was done with Christmas did you? The truth is I am starting to wind down in terms of Christmas projects on the blog, but I have another awesome one for you today. I hope you still have some gifts left to wrap. Today I’m turning cheap brown kraft paper into gorgeous gold painted gift wrap. You can use this any time of the year for a gorgeous wrapped present, but I think it really shines during the Holidays.
Y’all must think I work on commission for the Dollar Tree, no I don’t I just have one really close to my house. You can buy kraft paper at tons of places, from office supply to craft stores but hey, it’s just a buck at Dollar Tree so total win!
What I love about painting kraft paper with gold is it creates a high end look for an incredible low price. Plus I promise you this is the simplest painted gift wrap you’ll ever make. I just bought cheap gold craft paint, it was either bought at Hobby Lobby or Walmart, I honestly can’t remember. It’s just under $2 a bottle. You’ll also need a wide paint brush. You can buy those really cheap bad paint brushes for a few dollars at Home Depot, you know those ones you shouldn’t be buying to paint your walls with because they’re gross, or just use an old house painting brush, that will work too.
You have a choice of painting the paper before you wrap the gift or after. I’ve tried both and I prefer painting after the gift is wrapped, not only was it easier but the paint naturally went along with the shape of the gift creating a cool effect. I experimented with lots of paint colors and designs, but in the end – hands down – the dry brush method won me over and of course, in gold.
To achieve this look, wrap the gift in brown kraft paper. Take a paper plate and squeeze out a bit of gold paint. Take a clean dry paint brush and dip it in the gold paint. Wipe it back and forth along the paper plate to ensure you don’t have too much paint on the brush. You want a dry effect on the paper and you want to minimize warping from too much paint. Remember you can add more paint layers but you can’t take off excess!
Because you’re using such little paint it should dry very quickly. I paint the front side first, then pretty much immediately turn and do the sides. It’s up to you if you want to paint the back, sometimes I do and sometimes I don’t. You might might get a little bit of warping on the paper immediately after painting. Most of this goes away soon when the paper is fully dried, but remember you can minimize this by not using too much paint at once. Wipe the extra paint off before you brush, and work in layers if needed.
Now simply decorate the package with a coordinating bow and you’ve created a gorgeous gold shimmery gift wrap for just a pennies. How cool is that? I’ve also used this technique on inexpensive brown paper gift bags and it gives them a high end look too. Remember this is a gorgeous look for the holidays, but you can do this all year long for gifting. Happy gift wrapping!