Welcome back to the craft room and today’s Flashback Friday Christmas 2011 Gift Tags post. We are so close to Christmas Day I can almost taste it! For the last few years, I’ve decided to stick to a simple plan for gift tags. If I have more than one design, they’re very easy to create at the last minute. Back in 2011, I wasn’t that smart. LOL For some reason, I thought it would be a good idea to make different tags for just about every gift we gave. That was a bit insane, but it does make for a fun show-and-tell blog post! Let me show you a few of the tags I created that year.
Christmas Tags
I have yet to start on my Christmas cards for the year, but I have been having fun making gift tags. I started off with plain large tags (5 1/4″ x 2 5/8″) purchased from Hobby Lobby.
Pine Tree Tags
The first two tags were made using the Tim Holtz Pine Tree stamp with Memento ink in Cottage Ivy and Peeled Paint Distress Ink. The first tag was accented with Stickles for a bit of sparkle, while the second was covered in Fun Flock for a soft, textured look.
Lamppost Tag
The lamppost image used on the next tag is one of the very first stamps I ever bought. I remember that year, to emboss my Christmas cards, I had to hold the card base over the burner on the electric stove to melt the embossing powder! LOL Life before heat guns!!
Angel Tag
This angel stamp is another that I’ve had for years. The color for both the lamppost and angel tags was added with colored pencils, and of course, I finished them off with a touch of sparkle using Stickles.
Inspired by Tim Holtz – 12 Tags of 2011, Day 5
The next three tags were my version of Tim Holtz’s 12 Tags of Christmas 2011, Day 5. You can see his tag as well as directions on his page here.
(2025 EDIT: Unfortunately, when Tim re-did his blog, he didn’t include the 2011 version of his 12 Tags series. I did look for other tutorials on YouTube but have been unsuccessful.)
Here’s a quick rundown of the technique:
I cut some of the packaging from my newest Nestability die to roughly the size of my tag. I applied alcohol inks to one side, and once they were dry, I stamped my image using Archival Ink in Jet Black over the alcohol ink. The trick to this technique is to blot the ink away immediately with a paper towel or soft cloth. Not only does this lift off the black ink, but it also removes some of the alcohol ink underneath, creating such a cool effect. Just be careful if you’re using a stamp that has a “right side up,” like a text stamp!
Tim suggests adhering the image to the tag with Glossy Accents, but I ran mine through the Xyron machine instead. To finish, I tied a bit of ribbon to each tag and then hit it with the heat gun to “scrunch” it up a bit.
All of the stamps used on these tags are from Tim Holtz and Stampers Anonymous.
Thank you so much for joining me for today’s Flashback Friday Christmas 2011 Gift Tags post. Even though making so many different gift tags was a bit crazy, it definitely produced some beautiful and unique results! If you’re looking for more inspiration, you can find additional gift tag ideas here: Gift Tags.
Do you enjoy making handmade tags for your holiday gifts, or do you stick with store-bought ones? I’d love to hear about your traditions in the comments below!
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