Upcycling Wallpaper at Christmas: Four top Festive Tips

Whether you’re eco-friendly or simply just thrifty, reusing wallpaper is a great way to save money at Christmas and make an array of eye-catching, attractive decorations without busting the bank. 

Not only will your Christmas decorations be one of a kind and completely unique, but you’ll also have the peace of mind that they’re planet-friendly too. So, how can you reuse wallpaper around Christmas? I Love Wallpaper have compiled a handy list of Christmas crafts and festive upcycling ideas for those rolls of unused wallpaper that are left forgotten at the back of the cupboard. 

Wrapping with Wallpaper

Perhaps one of the more obvious uses for your old offcuts is to turn them into sheets of eye-catching, Christmas wrapping wallpaper. 

In the UK alone, we create around three million tonnes of waste during the festive season, with 8,000 tonnes attributed solely to waste wrapping paper, therefore any ways in which we can help reduce this figure should be welcomed.

Wrapping presents with wallpaper is a fantastic way to cut down on this huge amount of refuse, especially considering many gift wraps on the shop shelves cannot be recycled. 

Create Eye-Catching Christmas Decorations

Whipping up some Christmas decorations with your unused wallpaper is another popular means of upcycling. As well as being a brilliant way to cut down on waste, they also look a damn sight better than cheap plastic decorations that can’t be recycled! 

Within minutes, you can turn wallpaper that was destined for the bin into a whole host of unique decorations for your tree, walls, mantlepiece and more. We’ve included some of our festive favourites below. 

Wallpaper Christmas Tree

One of the most widespread yet simple wallpaper Christmas decoration ideas is the Christmas tree. There’s no mistaking the iconic outline of a pine tree, and its shape can’t help but evoke the Christmas spirit, and thankfully, it’s one of the easiest knickknacks to knock up. 

You’ll need: 

• Wallpaper of your choice, a pencil, scissors, string, tape and a hole puncher. 
• Sketch out the outline of a Christmas tree as a template, then using the template, draw a series of trees on the white backing of your wallpaper. 
• Cut out the pine trees carefully.
• You may double back the Christmas tree cutouts at this point with tape and a second cut out, or leave it as a single sheet and decorate the white backing, the choice is yours!
• Make a hole in the top of the decoration using the hole puncher and attach the string.
• Hang your wallpaper Christmas tree and enjoy!

Craft a Christmas Star

Another essential part of any Christmas tree’s trimming (or topping) is the Christmas star. Where you place your stars and the size you choose to make them is entirely up to you, but constructing them from a variety of Christmassy coloured wallpaper is a great way to create some one-of-a-kind Christmas decs. 

You’ll need: 

• Some suitably Christmas-themed wallpaper, a pencil, scissors, string and a hole puncher.
• Sketch out a template of a Christmas star or use a pre-designed template, then draw a series of star outlines on the white backing of your wallpaper.
• Cut out the stars and then fold so that the high points of the star meet each other, repeat this on all the corners of your star.
• Once unfolded, you should now have a raised, ridged star design
• Make a hole on one of the corners of the star, attach your string and hang!

Make Your Own Christmas Crackers 

No Christmas dinner is complete without the obligatory pulling of Christmas crackers and the subsequent bad jokes, but how about creating some DIY Christmas crackers of your own with unused wallpaper? 

There are plenty of cheap DIY cracker kits out there that will form a base for your showstopping wallpaper designs, so get hold of one and follow our simple instructions. 

You’ll need: 

• DIY Christmas cracker kit, PVA glue, scissors, a Stanley knife and your preferred choice of wallpaper.
• Take the open Christmas cracker design and apply the PVA glue evenly across the outside of the sheet.
• Place the wallpaper on top of the sheet and cut around the shape using scissors, complete the rest of your cutting carefully with a Stanley knife, making sure to avoid the slightly explosive strip that gives crackers their pop!
• Once dry, you’re able to add your choice of gift, joke or paper crown before rolling and securing the inserts of the cracker. 
• Extra tip: why not finish off your DIY Christmas cracker design by tying with a ribbon that compliments your wallpaper choice or themed name tags?

---

Feeling festive? Click here to shop our entire wallpaper collection.

If you enjoyed our four top festive tips for upcycling old wallpaper, don’t miss the rest of the I Love Wallpaper blog page where you’ll find plenty of interior design inspiration, decorating ideas, how to’s and more. 

For more festive ideas and tips, keep checking back for more blog posts, sign up to our newsletter or, follow us on I Love Wallpaper Instagram where you will find plenty of inspiration.