Hello Carrie This Home readers! My name is Jamie and today I’m visiting from my blog, anderson + grant. I’m so excited that Carrie invited me here to share a Christmas project with you.
I’ve found that when people know that you are a creative individual, they tend to give you strange items to make something out of. Today’s project was created from one of those “donations.”
My aunt had a bunch of Formica samples leftover from a recent kitchen remodeling project. Rather than throw them away, she decided there had to be something I could make out of them.
There are times that I have to really think about what an item can become, but as soon as I saw these thick plastic samples I knew they would make perfect Christmas gift tag ornaments. They are the perfect size and shape for tags and are heavy duty enough to be reused later on as an ornament for the Christmas tree.
I love making packages look special for the recipient. Doesn’t it make a gift feel more important when someone has taken the time to put a little extra effort in wrapping it? These tags add a little handmade touch and actually serve as an additional gift since they can be reused.
To make my gift tag ornaments, I painted the front of each sample with a creamy white color, and then traced a picture on each one using carbon paper. (The pattern appears in a link below). Then I painted on the pictures with acrylic craft paint.
Rather than painting the back of the tag, I cut out pieces of scrapbook paper, wrote TO and FROM with a white gel pen, and used Mod Podge to attach the paper to the back of the tag.
To finish off the gift tags, I coated the front of each one with a thin layer of Mod Podge and dusted on some iridescent glitter.
While you may not have a pile of Formica samples lying around (and no, I’m not condoning running over to Lowe’s and stocking up on them!), gift tags can be created out of just about anything. You can use shipping tags from the office supply store, thin cardboard, or even empty cereal boxes! And if you don’t enjoy painting, these tags can just be colored in with colored pencils or give them to your kids with a box of crayons!
If you’d like to make some of these tags for yourself this Christmas, click here for the pattern. I’ve included each of the four pictures as well as the fancy TO and FROM for your tags.
I hope that I’ve inspired you to be a little creative in creating gift tags for the gifts you’ll be giving this year. Thank you for letting me share with you! I’d love for you to visit my blog, anderson + grant, to see the other great projects, recipes, and decorating tips I’ve been sharing. Enjoy the rest of your week!
This post shared at: Thrifty Thursday, Inspire Me Please, Link Party Palooza, The Best DIY Projects and Recipes, Saturday Sharefest, Project Parade, Creative Spark, Work It Wednesday, Share Your Creativity, and Think and Make Thursday.