Kid-crafted Wrapping Paper

I have a confession to make. I'm a gift wrap hoarder. I keep every gift bag, cute tissue paper, bow and ribbon that comes our way. I have a stash stored in tupperware bins under our guest bed. Why be such a bow and bag pack-rat? Gift wrap these days is adorable and it seems such a waste to throw away perfectly good things that have been barely used. But the biggest reason is that the stuff is expensive. I mean, you end up spending an extra $5 just to decorate the gift you buy someone. Honestly, I'd rather spend that money on the gift itself. So my big pile of bags, bows and papers is where I go when I need to wrap a gift. The other day, however, when I went to wrap a birthday gift for a kid's party, my stash failed me. No bag was the right size and I didn't have any birthday wrapping paper. Newspaper comics was my first thought. And then, Boo asked to go paint on his easel.
Perfect! I could use his paintings as wrapping paper.
I usually have him reuse the painted papers by painting on the back side the next time. But these would serve another purpose. He had fun painting, knowing that his paintings were to decorate his buddy's gift. I just taped the dried papers together and wrapped the gift as usual.

I also made a little yarn and ribbon pom-pom to tie on top. I used scraps I had on hand so it didn't turn out to be a stellar gift topper. But I don't think the three year old recipient cared anyways.

It's birthday week at our house and we're ramping up for Boo's party. Look for the birthday party posts coming up next week with a homemade pinata tutorial, paper banners, and other fun builder/construction themed party ideas.