This project is just in time for holiday gift wrapping and ornament making. The tags that I used are wood and come in a box of 50 from Michael’s. I only used three for this project which means that I have 47 more to play around with for ornaments, gift tags, place markers… Well, the list is endless right? I also used my Cricut to cut the letters so if you have a cutting machine, I have saved the cut files into my Digital Downloads freebie files for you to download and use. So, let’s get started!

To begin, you will need a few supplies. Gather everything together and then spread out some newspaper or plastic to protect your work surface. There’s painting involved here so you will want something under the tags to catch drips and save your table.

Supply List:

• Wooden tags like these from Michael’s
• acrylic paint – I used red, white and black
• paint brushes
• painters tape or washi tape
• Mod Podge
• baker’s twine / ribbon
• wooden beads like these (Amazon)
• Cricut or other cutting machine
• Permanent adhesive vinyl
• script cut files download them from my Digital Download SVG section.
• Paper or plastic to protect your work surface

I wanted a sort of “Santa” vibe with these so I chose red, white and black for my paint colors. I also had a vision for how I wanted the letters to lay so I reserved the black for the bottom of the tag. Since I am a sloppy painter, and I wanted nice crisp lines, I arranged the tags side by side and then used washi tape to mask off three sections of each tag.

Beginning with the white paint, I painted to top section of each tag and then used my heat tool to speed up the drying process. I gave each tag two coats of paint before moving on to the next color. Next came the red in the middle and then the black on the bottom. When they were all dry (again with a bit of help from my heat tool) I flipped them over and painted the back side black so that I can use a white paint pen to write the name of the recipient on each one. My plan is to use these for gift tags so the backs needed to be finished too. Sorry I didn’t snap photos of that part.

Next came a coat of Mod Podge to seal them. You can use a spray sealant if you have it, but since I had the Mod Podge handy I used that. One coat on each tag was all that I needed and because I am the impatient sort, I gave it a quick pass with the heat tool just to speed things along.

Note: the sealing stage is important if you want the vinyl letters to stick properly and more importantly stay on. I learned this the hard way last Christmas when I made some wooden coasters and all my hard work literally fell off a day or two after I adhered them. SO disappointing! I am happy to say that now, several days after finishing these, they still look great!

The next, and possibly the most fun part, is the lettering. As I mentioned earlier, I’ve added the script cut files that I used to my Digital Downloads section so be sure to grab them if you decide to do this project. They’re also great for ornaments!

After you’ve cut the three words and have them transferred over to transfer paper (or clear contact paper because you are a super frugal, thrifty, clever crafter), arrange each one on the tag. I chose to slant them a bit because I deliberately made them just barely big enough to fit. Of course you can size the cut file however you would like so if you prefer to straighten things up just size them down a tad and do your what makes you happy!

To transfer the lettering, you can either use a plastic scraper or a coin. I tend to use the rounded part of my weeding tool because the letters have some thin spots that might need a little extra love. *wink* Once you are satisfied that they’re stuck down gently peel back the transfer material and behold your craftiness!

Next up, cords, bows and beads!

Before you start threading cord, paint three of the wooden beads. I chose black but really any Christmas color will do. Metallic gold or a bright holly green might be fun for example. If you’re impatient like me, give them a pass with a heat tool to speed up the dry time and then set them aside. I did run a Q-tip through the hole on both ends of each bead to make sure there wasn’t any wet paint inside. Since you will be threading the baker’s twine through you don’t want to smear paint on it inadvertently.

Which brings us to the next bit. Cut three pieces of baker’s twine and thread one piece through the hole at the top of each tag. Then, tie three of the twine pieces that come in the box of tags into bows. I opted to use the twine this way because the pieces are so short they’re pretty useless as hangers. In my opinion anyway. They make cute little bows though! Glue them just below the hole on each tag and then, string a bead on and call them done!

Pretty darned cute huh? Now, what are YOU going to do with those other 47 tags? I’d love to see what you do.

Happy Monday everyone! May you have more than your fair share of joy this week!