Scarlett Joy Creations: Merry Potato Christmas!

By Rachel Scarlett

'Twas the Sunday before Christmas, when all through the house,

Everyone was stirring, yes even the mouse!

If you are anything like me, I'm running around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to get everything in order for Christmas. I am doing a minuscule amount compared to last year, but then again I do have a baby to feed every three hours this year.... So that makes a HUGE difference. A huge wonderful difference :)

So this last week, my good friend Hannah came over to visit and we had a fun little craft time. We both had it in our heads to decorate our Christmas gifts that were wrapped in plain brown paper. She had actually brought a big roll of paper and was planning on decorating the paper pre-gift; my gifts however were already wrapped. I had also been wanting to try my hand at potato stamping, so I suggested it and that's what we did. I love the 'stamped' look plus it was tons of fun!

Plain boring packages...

So this is a pretty easy project and besides the paint, anyone would probably have all the equipment in their home. You just (1) Draw, (2) Trace, (3) Cut, and stamp stamp stamp!

I drew my tree out on wax paper and then retraced over it to leave an indent in the potato flesh. I used a utility knife to cut downward about a 1/4 of an inch into the potato of the tree outline, and then horizontally from the outside inward (also a 1/4 inch deep) leaving the stamp elevated. When loading the stamp with paint, it only needs a small amount. Too much paint with just make a smudged looking picture. And I would definitely practice stamping a few times before the real deal.

The image above and to the left is a simpler design as an ornament, using the roundness of the potato.

I thought Hannah's snowflakes turned out pretty well, and she used a whiteout pen to add little dots to make a pattern. For the golden dots on the right, I just sliced a small potato in half to stamp with.

Overall, I think all of these turned out great! It was a really fun and easy way to add some decoration to brown paper. I will definitely be bringing potatoes back for some future project; maybe for greeting cards or even for making a pattern on fabric!

This craft was especially enjoyable because I got to share ideas and time with one of my greatest friends! It's so much fun (and inspirational) to create with other people. Her red ornament stamp is something I never would have thought of; my mind would have made it too complicated, but it turned out to be my favorite stamp! I hope everyone finds some time to be creative with someone this Christmas, whether it be through wrapping presents, cooking, decorating the tree, or even by putting a lot of thought into a gift you're buying. Share the Love!

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!