Christmas Activity: DIY Wrapping Paper

Looking for a different way to make your Christmas gifts even more special? Try this DIY Wrapping Paper. I promise your family and friends will love getting their gifts wrapped in paper that’s made with love. And… your kids will be really proud of themselves when they show it off to them too.

Making our own wrapping paper is a big Christmas Bucket List item for us. We did it her first Christmas and now it’s become a fun tradition. I know my parents always look forward to seeing her wrapping paper. This year, she made it for her friends at preschool. I’m sure we’ll be doing this Christmas Activity more than once this year.

Maybe this can become a fun tradition for your family too! Here’s what you’ll need to make your own wrapping paper:

  • Brown craft paper
  • Paint
  • Paint brushes
  • Cookie cutters

This activity is super simple in the best way. You get to let your child be as creative as they want to be. PLUS, they get to be messy too! I think all kids like that aspect of that.

To set up, all I did was lay out brown kraft paper, pour paint on a separate paper plate, and laid out her tools (paint brushes, cookie cutters, bingo daubers). She did everything else all by herself. I would also suggest laying trash bags down if you want to keep your surface clean.

I played Christmas music and had Mila explain to me what she was drawing. The one section was a whole scene with people. It’s fun to hear their thought process.

After they’re done creating, just let your wrapping paper dry.

Then, just wrap your presents like normal. I tried to get Mila to paint more in the middle so you could see the design. We also love to add yarn and ribbon to make presents even more special.

Mila was super proud of her wrapping paper. It’s so unique. We’ve done it every year and each year it looks so different. It’s a great way to capture her growth. It also feels like a present within a present when you give to others. I love gifting her artwork and this is a fun way to do that while being useful too!

Even though we normally do this for Christmas, I’d love to do it for different birthdays or holidays.


Let me know in the comments…

Have you ever made your own wrapping paper? OR what recycled products do you use for wrapping paper?

Advertisement

Christmas Activity: Letter to Santa

It’s officially time to start getting festive. Our Christmas tree is up and indoor decorations are done. With all these bucket list items getting crossed off, we had to do another… write a letter to Santa.

I mean.. there’s less than a month until Christmas, we HAD to make sure he knew what Mila wanted this year.

The letter to Santa is very important in the eyes of kids who believe in him. When Mila realized that Santa was going to see her letter, she had that look Ralphie did in A Christmas Story.

It was all very official business.

After brainstorming her thoughts for the letter out loud, she decided it was time to write. Since Mila only knows how to spell her name at the moment, I got to help her out a little in the writing and spelling part of this.

Her letter to Santa states:

“Dear Santa,

How do you do? Thank you for giving me Christmas presents. I would like a big doctor thing.

Thanks, Mila”

She’s a lady that knows what she want! Hopefully she’ll actually become a doctor one day since that’s the only thing she wants at the moment. Besides becoming a mommy like me… her words.

Marking an item off her bucket list.

Anyways, I wanted to share this big moment because there’s a lot of learning going on in this simple letter.

Not only did she practice her writing skills and can prove she can remember and write her name, she drafted and wrote a letter! That’s pretty big for a three year old. Just because she didn’t physically write it, doesn’t mean there wasn’t any thought or work put into it.

It also showed her emotional intelligence with the thank you’s and asking Santa how he was doing.

These are all social skills that are all important to learn… simply by just writing a fun letter to Santa! Learning really is everywhere you look.

Fingers crossed Santa gets her letter in time. She used special stamps to help it travel quickly.

I’ll keep you all updated on if he does.


You can find the ‘Letter to Santa’ template at The Letter Vee. Some of the other stamps come from Three Little Crumbsnatchers, she also has the cutest Christmas activities you can print out for free. I’ll be posting them this December, so keep your eyes peeled.


Does your child or did they write letters to Santa? I’m thinking of recording Mila too. I think it would be cute to look back on. Let me know in the comments if you think that’s a fun idea or not.

Christmas Bucket List 2021

It’s almost the most wonderful time of the year!

Mila and I are getting so excited for this holiday season. Although we’re trying to hold off most of our activities until after Thanksgiving, we’re feeling the pressure!

A good middle ground was to make our Christmas Bucket List 2021.

This isn’t the first time Mila and I have made a Christmas Bucket List. During her second Christmas in 2019, we made a similar one! We had a ton of fun getting to every item, but she didn’t grasp it like she will this year.

Bucket lists are fun because you can prepare for an upcoming season and list what you want to do. Then, any extras are just added fun.

All of our Christmas Bucket List items are easy to do and most will just be at home.

Here’s what we came up with:

  • Decorate the Christmas Tree
  • Put up decorations
  • Drink hot coco
  • Write a letter to a santa
  • Visit Santa
  • Have treats for Santa and his reindeer
  • Sing Christmas songs and dance to them
  • Bake cookies
  • Christmas movie night
  • Eat a candy cane
  • Go look at Christmas lights
  • Make wrapping paper
  • Make gingerbread houses/people
  • Make an ornament
  • Wear Christmas pajamas
  • Take family photos
  • Christmas on the Square
  • FLORIDA!
  • Have a Merry Christmas

I can’t wait to celebrate Mila’s FOURTH Christmas season with her. She’s already so excited for Santa and the magic behind it all. And… she already wants to cross the items off.

Even though we paused our list due to the pandemic last year, I figured we needed to bring it back and make it our tradition.

As always, we’ll be sure to share our holiday experiences, crafts, and activities. Stay tuned.


All I did to make the physical list was unrolled craft paper and drew on it with markers. It was easy to do and it feels like we have another huge and interactive Christmas decoration for the year.

What would you add to your Christmas Bucket List that I missed? Let me know in the comments.