We have officially entered the holiday season.  Trees are going up, mantles are getting dressed and the hunt for the perfect gift has started.  With all of the planning and prep that goes into the holiday season, it can be the most stressful time of the year.  We all manage to add an enormous amount of items to our to-do list before December 25th.  It’s hands-down the busiest time of the year!

What most of us need this time of year is a minute to relax and a much-needed timeout from all of the craziness. This year, why not knock out two birds with one stone–1. make your own cheery stenciled holiday gift bags, and 2. get in some relaxing crafting time!  I always say the package a gift comes in should be eye-catching and pretty.  Even if the gift inside isn’t all that exciting to look at (like a gift card), at least the package makes the gift look appealing!

To really make my gifts stand out this year, I grabbed some supplies from DecoArt to make my plain gift bags really pop!  Instead of going the traditional green and red route for my gift bags, I opted for pink, red, and white.  I am obsessed with this combo–It’s so bright and cheery! Since I’m not the best at drawing I used the DecoArt Whimsical stencil for a pretty floral design.  Check out the full tutorial below to see how you can create your own Cheery Stenciled Holiday Gift Bags!

Supplies:

– Gift Bag

– DecoArt Americana Multi-Surface Acrylic (Pink Cadillac and Poppy)

– DecoArt Whimsical Stencil 

– DecoArt Americana Stencil Brush Set

1. Lay your stencil on top of your bag.  Add a little bit of white paint to your stencil paint brush and remove any excess.  You’ll want to be sure you don’t have too much paint on your brush because it will bleed.  Begin by going over your stencil in a circular motion, adding paint over your entire design (be sure to avoid any neighboring designs!).

2. Continue adding white paint to the different sized branches all over your bag.  I also like to lay my stencil over the edge so some of the designs are hanging off the bag. TIP: use a hair dryer to dry your paint so you can continue to add designs to your bag without smearing the paint.

3. Next, add painter’s tape to the designs surrounding the leaf design.  Lay your stencil over one of your branch designs with the leaf design overlapping.   Add pink paint over the design.

4. Continue stenciling leaves over your branches.

5. Next, place painter’s tape over the designs next to the polka dot designs.  Use the red paint to stencil red polka dots in different designs near your branches and leaves.

After your paint has dried, add your gift, personalized tag, and top it off with some tissue paper.  Viola! You now have a cheery stenciled holiday gift bags–Enjoy!