I’ll admit it, I have a hard time getting rid of stuff… I’m not a hoarder, it’s just the crafter in all of us!
It’s the idea that you can make something out of anything. You know as soon as something is thrown away you’ll undoubtedly have a brilliant idea of how to reuse it.
One thing I have a hard time getting rid of is Holiday cards. I save them, then the next year I usually end up tossing them, knowing I’m just going to get another group from the same people.
Finally I decided to do something with them. There are a lot of possibilities, but the one I went with this year was gift tags. Use them on holiday gifts, host/hostess gifts, thank you tags on favors, or even as place cards tied around a glass/bottle.
Materials:
Scissors and/or X-acto
Hole punch
Tag-shaped punch (optional)
Ribbon
Any or all of the following for decorating: pens, markers, crayons, glitter, paint, puff paint, beads, sequins, feathers, yarn, twine, raffia, tissue paper, stickers, charms, wire, twigs, acorns, pine cones, dried flowers and berries, stamps and anything else you can think of!
Steps:
(If you are using a tag-shaped punch skip steps 1-2)
1. Use the backs of a few greeting cards as stencils. Draw the shapes you want on the back of a few cards and cut them out.
2. Trace your stencils on the front of your greeting cards.
3. Cut your tags our with scissors or an X-acto knife. (Or if you are using a tag-shaped punch, just use that to punch the shapes from your cards)
4. Decorate your tags. This is the part where you really get to be creative! I stuck to glitter paint, pens and beads, then layered varying sized tags on top of each other for texture. The possibilities are endless! Go with a glam theme sticking to metallic paint and glitter, or keep it natural with twigs, dried berries and raffia.
5. Punch a hole at the top of each tag.
6. Thread ribbon through the hole and tie a knot. Add a bead if you’d like, for even more decoration.
Now your tags are ready to go, bringing a personal, handmade, eco-friendly element to every gift you give this holiday season!
