Tape Resist Tartan Gift Boxes

Add the personal touch to your gifts by making these simple tape resist tartan gift boxes.

What you need:

- gift boxes (these ones are from Target costing $1 each)
- acrylic festive colored paints
- paint brushes
- paint palette
- painter's tape
- scissors
- ribbon
- a mat or a tray to contain the mess (we used our trusty Messmatz)

How it works:

I spotted these brown cardboard gift boxes in Target and knew they were perfect for some DIY decorating. Both my kids always enjoy tape resist art and I thought it would end up looking a bit like tartan wrapping which would be neat. I taped up the lids to each box with painter's tape and the kids got to work.

With an activity like this I am always sure to supply a selection of paints and brushes to encourage independence and personalized creativity. I wanted to be sure that my kids were able to have choice in how the boxes looked.

Tape resist is perfect, especially with toddlers, because it gives a buffer zone for the painting areas.

I simply asked my kids to paint each taped area a different color on their boxes. They did an awesome job!

We let the paint dry and then peeled off the tape to reveal a fun tartan effect on the box lids. I then added some nice gifts into the boxes for some of our lovely teachers, tied up the boxes with ribbon, and that was it, they were all set!

This was such a simple process and really did look lovely. I like that both kids were able to participate, they were very proud of their creations.