It's probably a heinous crime to mention next Christmas when we've barely recovered from the last one but I thought I should share a very simple family tradition that at least three generations of our family have honoured. Making Christmas gift tags from your old Christmas cards.
We kept our decorations and cards up a little longer than usual this year as we had planned a late get together with family who we hadn't seen over the Christmas holidays. Unfortunately little M went down with a nasty bug so we had to call the gathering off at the last minute. A real shame not to see people but did mean I got a very rare nap in the afternoon! Little M, having perked up a bit was helping me take the cards down after an early tea. I remembered that I didn't make any gift tags last year and ended up just scrawling on this year's parcels with a marker pen. So little M helped me pick some cards that would be good for tags and I made some tags there and then - it took less than 5 minutes. It feels nice to be passing the tradition on!
The tags are so simple they barely warrant instructions!
1. Pick cards you like. Check there is nothing printed or written on the back of the picture. Ones with a small design that can be cut around are ideal but you don't have to stick to these.
2. Cut out your tags in whatever shape or size you want.
3. Use a hole-punch to punch a hole in the corner for a ribbon or string to go through.
4. Put them somewhere you'll actually be able to find them next Christmas! (there's a chance I did some last year and just couldn't find them - we've had a chaotic year)
My Grandma always used pinking shears for a zig-zag effect on hers. I did treat myself to some pinking shears before Christmas - a short cut to get some Christmas crafting done in the limited time I had free (I'd have had some very disappointed girls if their santa sacks hadn't been finished in time!). I was told in no uncertain terms by the shopkeeper to keep them strictly for fabric. So I've stuck to normal scissors for my tags!
Top tip! It's the one thing I always forget to buy before Xmas. I did this last year and was soooo delighted with myself when I found them in the decorations box in December.
Posted by: breakfast lady | Jan 07, 2013 at 09:45 AM
i do this every year!! :-)
Posted by: Jaime Oliver | Jan 07, 2013 at 02:11 PM
Had a feeling there would be other's doing this too!!
Posted by: Fiona | Jan 07, 2013 at 09:02 PM