Quick Stenciled Gift Wrap

Materials needed:

craft paper or paper bags
high-density foam roller
acrylic paint
Flowtrol paint conditioner
paint tray
newspaper
Dressler stencils: #137 diamond tile, #612 fern
blue painter's tape
pencil
wire to make wire word or ready-made wire greeting

1. Protect your work surface with newspaper. Lay out your sheet of paper. If using paper bags, separate them along the seam and open them up with the printed side down. Press with an iron to remove creases. You will decorate the inside of the bag.

2. Squeeze acrylic paint into the paint tray and add an equal amount of paint conditioner. Mix well. Put the roller into the paint and work out the excess on the bumpy part of the tray. Unload as much of the paint as possible so it won’t ooze under the stencil.

3. Position your stencil on the paper so that the openings hang over the edges of the paper. You want to have the design cover the entire sheet. Tape it into place at the corners using the blue tape. It won’t stick to the paper and cause tears. Use a pencil to mark through the registration holes at the corners of the design.

4. Start at the outer edges of the stencil and lightly roll in toward the center, adjusting your pressure on the roller as you see how the paint is reacting (figure A). Continue until the stencil is all done.

5. Reposition the stencil using the registration holes as guides (figure B) and repeat the process until the sheet is covered.

6. You can use a single color or multiple colors. Overlap the repeats in different colors if you like. You can use any design you want.

7. Add a wire word greeting or design to embellish the package. Plus, in addition to the paper, you can make a matching card out of tag board or card stock.