First up is my new obsession, folded paper fans. You might remember back a month ago when I decorated for my daughters party with a slew of paper fans made from paper napkins. After that I became obsessed and found a few ways to incorporate paper fans into my Christmas decor using wrapping paper. The large size of the wrapping paper means that I can make super large paper fans to hang up above my mantel and they are oh so cute!
In addition to using the paper fans for the wall, I ended up making a large one to use as my tree skirt on my mixed metals tree that I decorated.
Yet another way to decorate quickly and inexpensively. This one roll of gold wrapping paper that I picked up at Home Goods for $2.99, yielded half a dozen small paper fans for my mixed metals tree, a tree skirt for my mixed metals tree, and a small paper fan for above my mantel. Not bad!
To make your own folded wrapping paper tree skirt, you will want to cut two large squares of wrapping paper from the roll, then fold them in an accordion fold.
Then glue the two pieces of folded paper together along one edge. You can see the seam there on the left of the glue stick where the two pieces of folded wrapping paper were glued together.
Now, bunch up the paper along the fold and find the center. Here you will want to bind the center with a piece of wire or a pipe cleaner.
Now glue one set of the remaining sides together to create your tree skirt.
Slip this around the trunk of your tree and staple or clip the remaining sides together.
Another easy way to use wrapping paper in your holiday decor is to line the inside of glass cabinets with it. We have a television stand/console unit from Ikea that has glass panel doors. I hate being able to see inside the cabinets and the clutter of movies and games in there, but I purchased the glass door fronts purely for the fact that I could line the interior with fabric or in this case wrapping paper and completely switch up the look for each season or holiday.
Christmas is the perfect time to add a little festive red chevron touch to the inside of the doors. If you don’t have a unit like this with glass doors, maybe you have a few glass door kitchen cabinets or even a window next to your front door that you could fill with some wrapping paper for a festive touch. I just use packing tape inside the cabinet door to affix the wrapping paper, then I can easily remove it to swap it out for the next holiday.
Two final ways that I have used wrapping paper this season are to cover a few of the books on my bookshelves to fit in with the holiday decor in there and as a super quick tablecloth. For the books I simply wrapped the cover of the book like I used to do in high school for my text books. You can see how they now tie in perfectly to the decor.
For the tablecloth (although technically not a cloth), I simply cut the wrapping paper to fit on my table. It didn’t stay clean longer than one or two dinners with a 2 year old, but it is a simple way to decorate your table for a holiday meal.
I hope you are inspired to think outside the box when it comes to wrapping paper this year. All it takes is a little crafty thinking, some scissors, and some glue and you are well on your way to crafting your own holiday decor.
