
A few weeks ago, after Susan Dworski mentioned that she carved stamps out of erasers, we started thinking about all the things you could do with home-made stamps. Why not stamp a pattern on sheets or rolls of paper to make your own fab holiday wrapping paper? (It’s easy, you just get yourself some Staedtler Mars Erasers and start carving, with whatever tools you have…dip in paint and stamp away — check out our how-to here).
Then we remembered some wonderful gift wrap our friend Holton Rower made with his kids one Christmas. He made his stamps out of potatoes.
…a simple potato stick makes rectangles that stamp a fine graphic design:

…crescent shaped slices make a nice slash….

…possibilities are infinite…

We found a great how-to at Henry Happened. Dig these cool moderne spots:
Here’s another pretty eraser stamp design:

If you’ve got some fabric paint around, you can use your stamps to pattern fabric for some swell project: a scarf maybe, napkins, a pillow, a sofa, perhaps…
top photo via artisancraft.devantart.com; bottom photo via daisyyellow.squarespace.com
Related posts: gift: endlessly useful furoshiki cloth…you can even wear it
reader improv: ny times illustrated wrapping paper
an artwork we mistook for chic, minimalist gift wrap
‘gif wrap’ + six strategies for cool, cheap gift wrap (d-i-y)
unwrapping the holidays: alt-gifts, d-i-y wrap and……… cool blogs
Many vegetables can be used as stamps: cabbage (1/2 ot 1/4), celery (cut crosswise just up from the base), etc. They are used best if completely dry before stamping. If you want to stamp fabric that will be washed you need to use fabric paint or put an additive to acrylic to make it washable. If it won’t be washed, acrylic is fine.