stayathomeartist.com: gift tag christmas ornament tutorial...

thanksgiving is next week. that means the christmas decorations go up next week, too!

every year, i like to get crafty and make a few new ornaments. i have several in progress, but i thought i'd share how i made these cute gift tag ornaments...

i snagged these balsa wood gift tags for about $1.25 on sale at roberts. although, i'm sure you could find something similar at pretty much any craft store.

start by sanding the edges a little bit to get rid of any stray splinters.
(tip: if you don't have sandpaper, use a nail file or emory board. it's basically the same thing!)

next, paint each tag with craft paint. my tree is going to be red, green, blue, and white this year, so that's the color scheme i went with.

(another tip: i put down a dollar store plastic table cloth so i don't have to worry about spills. you could paint right on it, but i put down a little sheet of wax paper, too.)

i wanted the ornaments to have a little shimmer without using glitter, so i mixed this pearlizing medium into my paint.

it was less than $2 at roberts and worked like a charm. (you can't see the shimmer too well in the pictures...but trust me. it's there.)

okay. once your tags are dry, it's time to bust out the scrapbook paper.

you could decorate these with any kind of design, but i went with little trees. they are simple to make...no super artistic skills required.
i cut out 1.5 x 2.25" rectangles of the papers i wanted to use.

then, i cut those rectangles into long skinny triangles.
like i said--WAY easy.

i arranged my triangles on the tags, then cut contrasting paper for the trunks using the scraps. just cut small, thin triangles. (i also added stars to the tops of a couple...you could use a hole punch to make little ornaments, too, if you wanted.)

next, use mod podge to attach your trees. spread a thin, even coat over the tag and on the back of your paper pieces. smooth into place, then spread a thin coat over the whole thing.