Tags Aplenty

With limited time for papercrafting fun this busy time of year, I love to make tags.

Tags are (usually) small and can be elaborate or simple or anything in between, and it doesn't take too long to whip up a tag or two, indulging in some crafty goodness with a few minutes between other tasks. This year, I wanted to add a bit of creativity to my present-wrapping, and creating some tags was the perfect way to do that with just a little bit of extra time.

My first step was to assemble some supplies, and I used a lot of bits and pieces left over from last year's Christmas album. I also made good use of my Silhouette Cameo. Oooh, I love that little machine! :) Some ink, stamps, bit of paint, some glitter and bling, and a strong need to relax and play: that was my recipe for this year's tags.

These were inspired by a tag I saw on Pinterest. The stamps are from Stampin' Up!, and I purchased them with a matching punch so it was easy to stamp and punch and put together. On some, I added little strips of patterned paper; on others, I let the vintagey colors stand alone. I absolutely LOVE the festive berries shade from Tim Holtz, and that vintage green of evergreen boughs grows on me a little more the more I use it.

Okay, how cool are those jingle bells? I've loved jingle bells since I was in high school. Every Christmas season, I'd put bells on my shoelaces so every step I took added a bit of jingle. These I found at Target, a little box about half silver, half gold, and I love the extra sparkle and fun they add to these (and other) tags. The skate and snowman chipboard were leftover from last year's October Afternoon collection. I painted them with Distress crackle paint in picket fence then inked with Distress in blue. So much fun to make!

Little bit less work on these four. The lower left tag is part of a Christmas card, trimmed down, glittered, and tied with twine and some jingles. The upper left is a scrap of patterned paper I love with a bit of gold twine (borrowed from a cluster of gold jingle bells I used elsewhere) and some gold glitter. The other two were actual gift tags I've had a long time, bought at a garage sale several years ago. I just added some glitter and twine, and they're ready to go! (I stamped the to and from inside those so that after Christmas, I can cut the fronts off and use them again.)

Probably my simplest tag and one of my favorites. I cut the square out of a piece of patterned paper, stamped the to and from, tied it with twine and bells, and instant pretty. Love using up scraps of paper this way.

This tag was created last year, only the handwritten to and from were added this year. Before my paper-crafting life was enriched by a Cameo, I used a Slice for my electronic die-cutting, and that's how these bells were made. I then heat embossed the shape with silver embossing powder, added the gems, and used festive berries Distress ink to color that crinkle ribbon that delectable shade of Christmas red. I'd planned to use the die cut on a scrapbook page last year, but since that didn't happen, repurposing it into a tag was the thing to do.

Simple and pretty. Little Distress ink, little shimmer mist, a stamped snowflake, clear embossed, tied with some silvery riboon, a wisp of white craft thread, and a jingle bell. The finishing touch, a glittery enamel dot leftover from one of My Own Kits.

Another favorite. I clear-embossed an ornament stamp from Echo Park onto a white card stock tag, then used a paintbrush to add spray ink since the sprayer is broken. (Already? Dont' even get me started...) I took a little scrap of patterned paper, also from Echo Park, cut into a banner, then strung with twine and added a couple jingle bells. I really love the look!

Another favorite, this one using a shape from Silhouette. I heat embossed the top layer of the die cut in silver and inked the background layer with Distress in a few blue shades. The tag itself is blue card stock splattered with spray inks, some shimmery. I used white craft thread to tie the jingle bell and the die cut to the tag, added a small rectangle of white card stock for the to and from and called it done.

Probably my favorite of all, and the photo doesn't do it justice. This was also a Silhouette shape cut from plain white card stock with the Cameo. The background I heat-embossed in silver, while I colored the top layer with a gorgeous blue ink from Stamps of Life by Colorbox, sprayed with Studio Calico's Mister Huey in shine. The to and from tag tied with craft thread is a piece of blue card stock. As I was putting this together, I thought how cool it would be to make paper ornaments for the tree with this shape. In fact, I could make sure the die cut part is saved, and cut the tag off, save it for next year's tree.

More shapes cut with the Cameo, paired with leftover gold polka dot vellum from last year on plain manila tags. That vintage style button on the left tag is from Stampin' Up!, and both ornament die cuts are painted with the red mist, then sprayed with gold.

I do love the art of heat embossing. Stamp from Tim Holtz, embossed with white embossing powder this time. The tag on the left was colored with Distress ink, then sprayed with gold mist and stamped with to and from. The poinsettia was a leftover stamped image I fussy cut last year and accented with four gems. A bit of green twine and ribbon finish off that tag. The one on the right, I used festive berries to add some color, used some leftover letter stickers for the to/from, and added a cluster of jingle bells to finish it off.

These three? Cute and easy. The one on the left was part of a little vintage kit from Making Memories a few years back. I stamped the to/from, then used some white Stickles to add a bit of glitz to the mistletoe berries. The light die cut was leftover from a Bo Bunny collection last year. I stamped the to/from, punched three stars from gold glitter paper and adhered them. The tag on the right was attached to a package of candied nuts my husband bought for us, to/from printed on the back. I simply cut a piece of patterned paper to conceal the logo and added a sticker and punched star to finish it off.

The tag on the left is a piece of patterned paper tied with gold twine, stamped with to/from, embellished with a fussy cut poinsettia stamped in red and sprayed with gold, finished off with five gems. The one in the middle was clear embossed, sprayed with green ink, embellished with a chipboard die cut and tied with twine. The tag on the right was painted with Distress paint in picket fence, then sprayed with green ink. I added a piece of patterned paper and those same stamped, fussy cut poinsettias, accented with gems and an epoxy dot. Fun, fun, and fun!

And last...pieces from a Bo Bunny cut-apart sheet, turned into tags. The one on the top, I cut out, adhered to a tag inked with Distress, and then letter stickers for to/from and a bit of twine. The one on the bottom, I trimmed into a tag, heat-embossed with a couple snowflake stamps in silver, stamped with to/from, and finished off with a snowflake die cut embellishment that was in my stash from last year or the year before.

I love how tags add a personal touch to the presents and give me the opportunity to fit something I love, creating with paper, into my life at a time when I really need to relax and unwind and de-stress with creative fun. I think this is a new tradition I'll carry on for years to come.