Lettering and Calligraphy on Wrapping Paper
Buying the perfect gift for someone you care about and making it meaningful is already hard enough – especially when you want to associate the gift wrapping with a particular theme in mind. I feel a lot of time, the perfectly chosen gift wrap is as good as the gift itself because that is the first opportunity where you see the joy from your friend’s face.
After my passion for calligraphy has taken off, I no longer venture to buy wrapping paper anymore because I find it very wasteful to be buying one roll for a particular gift and using it across different occasions doesn’t seem as personal enough. I have been hand-lettering my wrapper paper for the past year for occasions such as Christmas, house warmings, baby showers, and birthdays where I can personalize and tailor each gift wrap. The best thing about hand lettering on wrapping paper is that it is economical, personal and most of all is actually pretty quick to do. Below are some tips and tricks for doing your own:
TOOLS TO USE
- Craft paper or any paper
- Pencil or mechanical pencil to layout the draft
- Ruler or laser leveler/pointer to make sure you are writing straight
- Markers of your choice.
PAPER
Type of paper – Matte vs Glossy. It is a good practice to see whether there’s any coating on the paper. I tend to avoid the glossy type of paper because it is very likely for the ink to smear and it requires additional work and drying time.
I normally like to use matt craft paper. It is a good fit with many markers and even some people do water colours on them. Another reason for choosing craft paper is because any colour would stand out nicely. Black is stylish, Gold looks very elegant and White is just very chic.
DRAFT
You may find any quotes or any simple phrases to begin. In this example, I made the wrapping paper for a baby shower, so I picked the phrase “Oh Baby”. It really could be anything you want and don’t worry about hitting the edge of the wrapping paper.
There are two ways for the layout
1. You can either write on the entire wrapping paper then cut through word to get the right size.
2. Second way is to cut the paper in the right size, then lay another piece of paper below and continue writing the word beyond the wrapping paper onto the second paper.
FINAL
I have used many marker options. If it’s a small piece of wrapping paper and you want a lot of detail, you may use fine tip markers. The picture below I used a sakura gelly roll pens, but it takes forever because I was doing faux calligraphy (thicken each downstroke). I am not going to give a tutorial on lettering because it’s another topic by itself.
If you want to faster result, you may choose thicker brush pen or even water colour brush pen such as Pentel Arts Aquash Water Brush. With these thick brush pen when you do downstroke you simply apply more pressure on them, and you don’t’ have to go back to thicken each downstroke.
I wrapped it up with some ribbon or even wax seal them when I finished. I love how these are so personal and unique. I hope you are inspired to give it a try and please let me know if you decide to give it a go by tagging me with your creations on instagram!
Tag me and use #tutorialwithsincerelybo when you follow my tutorial.
I’d love to see your work and connect with you!
Visit my Instagram @sincerelybo to see more calligraphy projects!
Sincerely,
Margaret
