Homemade Christmas gift tags

When it comes to Christmas preparation, I always get a wee bit resentful of how much the wrapping paper and Christmas gift tags cost – or is that just me!? I have the dilemma where I want my Christmas presents to be beautifully and thoughtful wrapped, but without it costing a fortune. That’s why, every year, it is a ritual for me to create new Christmas present tags by re-using or recycling other materials. I am a complete nerd who makes these after Christmas Day for the following year! Plus, once you’ve seen these gift tags, you’ll be eyeing up the Christmas cards you receive this year… 

In short, the majority of my Christmas gift tags are made using old Christmas cards. Every year, when I receive my Christmas cards, I think about whether they could be turned into next year’s gift tags. The beauty of it is that you get to recycle and create quality gift tags all at the same time! 

What you’ll need: 

* Old Christmas Cards 

* Scissors 

* Twine 

* Hole puncher 

Once you’ve got your cards together, see which ones could make usable tags; remember to check the reverse of the front cover to see if there is any writing on this as it may not be a viable option if so. Often, cards have a nice frame or border around the design and this works well for gift tags, too. 

Simply cut around the design that you would like and then, in one of the top corners put a hole punch. Using nice twine, feed a small length of twine through the hole and fasten with a knot. It’s a simple as that! 

Here are some examples: 

This gift tag was created from a card that I managed to split into 3 different gift tags. 

Gift tags can come in all shapes and sizes: sometimes small cards can be used to make a big gift tag as per the below! 

Creating your own Christmas gift tags 

If you’re reading the above post thinking “that’s great for next Christmas, but I’ve thrown all my old Christmas cards away!!”, then here is some inspiration for creating your own Christmas gift tags cheaply. 

What you’ll need: 

* Luggage labels 

* Christmas cards or card or fabric 

* Black fine liner 

* Any other odds and ends 

The basis of these Christmas gift tags is buying some luggage labels – depending on the size of tag you want, you can find mini tags too which are very cute. All you then need to do is find some old Christmas cards that you can cut up, or some Christmas themed fabric or card/paper to create your new tags. Below are some examples that will hopefully give you some inspiration!