Here we are at the end of our birthday week. Phew, that was fun. Did you get a chance to enter one of our paper giveaways this week? You still have time for most of them so be sure to take a scroll backwards and check it out. I thought it would be nice to open and close the week with a DIY project. What’s a birthday without gifts?! And what’s better than receiving a gift so pretty that you almost don’t want to tear into it (almost). Today I’m sharing an easy gift wrap idea and a free printable tag as a bonus gift just for you. Keep reading to see how you can make your gifts extra special and give them that pretty watercolour look.

This project is super affordable. What you’ll need:

• white paper
• watercolour paints (mine are from the dollar store)
• paint brush (1″ wide works well)
• white wax crayon or candle (optional)
• 2 glasses of water & paper towel for blotting

I felt like I was back in elementary school making this paper. Just channel your inner 8 year old and have fun playing and blending colours. Obviously you need to use water but try not to over soak your paper or it will get soggy on you. The two step water process helps the colours from getting muddy looking.

You’ll end up with some pretty pieces like this:

If you want to get all crazy you can try this wax technique. Take a white crayon or candle and draw a pattern on your blank white paper. It can get tricky to keep track of what you’re drawing on a blank piece of paper so I used a ruler to help me out. After paint over it and the areas with the wax will stay white showcasing your pattern. You can see some chevrons and polka dots I did that turned out well.

They really just take a few minutes each to make so go a little crazy and make yourself an inventory of gift wrap that’s ready to go.

And because every gift needs a tag I designed these watercolour inspired tags for you. You can just go ahead and download them here.

I wrapped a bunch of paper ribbon around the gift to add some interest and hold the tag. Easy peasy right? And then you take in all the lovely compliments you’ll get when you hand over one of these beauties to the lucky recipient.

Thanks so much for celebrating with us this week! Your support means the world to me. Here’s to another year of inspiration and getting our hands dirty.