Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Tool Time Tuesday...Handmade Recycled Gift Tags

Happy Tuesday everyone!! Today's tool is from the craft store. I went down the scrap booking aisle with blinders on my eyes. I stayed focus...just needed to get the large circle cutter that's on the left in the picture below. If I start another hobby, I think I'll drown in crafting supplies. Scrap booking is something I've always wanted to try, but don't want to start. Looks like it can be addicting! I only bought the circle cutter and it's great! (ok, I did buy a few sheets of pretty scrap booking paper too). The hole punch with the purple handle punches a tiny circle and the blue one on the right is the traditional hole punch. You can do so many things with them, but today's tutorial is with the large punch.






Today we are making gift tags! Recycled gift tags that is. We'll be making them out of catalogs...you know all the catalogs we get by the boat load in the mail. I used the Vera Bradley catalog because of the great prints and graphics, but any colored print will work.



Just place the desired design in the circle cutter and squeeze the handles...



and you're done!


You may have to trim away some of the paper on the side, so the hole punch can snug up against the design that you'd like. Isn't this green print cute!



Here is a snow flake on the page next to the purse...



The circle punch is open on the top, so you can center the design if you need to.



These are all the circles that I punched from one small catalog in a matter of minutes.



Next I printed out a full sheet of "To:" and "From:" on Microsoft word. I played with the layout until I could fit the words in the size of my hole punch.



Here is a close up.



Now just punch out the gift tags with the hole punch.



The easiest way to attach the decorative circle to the "To / From" circle is permanent double sided tape.



Place one piece of double sided tape on the back of the "To / From" tag...



and then place the decorative circle on top of that.



You will need a small hole for the string on the gift tag. You can use the tiny hole punch or just poke a hole with the tip of your scissors or maybe a nail.



Here is a close up of the tiny hole punch.


Just add string, ribbon, twine or yarn.



Here is the front of your finished gift tag: quick, easy and recycled.



and here is the back.


A little tutorial...
space
To: You
From: sew many ways
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Have a great Tuesday!
~Karen~

29 comments:

  1. wow, that was great... so great and easy and last minutie too! I'm off to punch circles! thanks

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  2. I love that you used your old magazines! Brilliant!

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  3. I've never seen a circle cutter like that before. Like you, I avoid looking at scrapbooking supplies as I don't need another hobby! Although some of that paper would make great fabric!! Anyway... I usually use old Christmas cards and an egg ring as a circle and cut them out with scissors. I love the variety you can get with a catalogue! And I love the tiny hole punch. Hmmm, I may feel a shopping trip coming on... maybe...

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  4. That is so great! I read nearly all of your blog yesterday (during I was in university... well....) an you have so great ideas. Really, it is amazing! And by the way i love your sewing room!
    Kind Regards from Germany

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  5. I do the same thing!!!! this year I bought a punch that is in the shape of a gift tag how cool is that?
    Kathie

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  6. I am with you about the scrapbooking. I don't need more hobbies because I don't have enough time as it is... This is a terrific idea!

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  7. Oh, dear! I feel a shopping spree coming on. My hole punch is rusty, and I think everyone NEEDS one of those circle cutters!

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  8. Karen, las etiquetas quedan preciosas con el este método. Muy buena la idea de sacar los circulos de publicaciones de revistas. un beso

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  9. thank you for posting this.. this could also be used for other season and so on.. have a great day,Amy

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  10. I love my circle punch tooo.

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  11. yikes...I'm off to Hobby Lobby with my coupon...

    Thanks for the great idea!!

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  12. I love new tools...and that is a really cool one. Guess I need to go shopping at the craft store!!

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  13. I should invest in one of those circle punches. What a great idea! It's always good to recycle those pretty catalogues.

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  14. I make my own tags too with my punches and old Birthday and Christmas cards. Now I need a circle cutter and a tiny hole punch would be nice too!

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  15. What a great use of old catalogs... I'll have to re-evaluate the ones that come in here. I was thinking about the possibility of using a full sheet of adhesive paper for the to/from part... just a thought but it adds expense.

    You need to get into digital scrapbooking. Start with PhotoShop Elements and then shop the web for quick page kits or papers and elements... the good thing is you can have scrapbooking pages without the entire collection of paper, tools, adhesives... you get the idea. Just call me an enabler ....

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  17. I love your blog its great ideas. Okay circle cutter, I'll watch if there is shop in France. the circles are 5 cm ?
    Thank you for your ideas.
    Annick

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  18. What a wonderful idea for all the fliers and catalogs that come my way that I hate to toss. Now I can start a stash for tags next year and trash what's left...thanks so much.

    PS I'm excited to see your cookies at Jodi's!

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  19. Smart idea for repurposing that pile of holiday catalogs. Thanks for the good idea. Hey, this would be fun to do with my old Xmas cards too!

    Jody

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  20. Too cute! What an easy way to recycle. I could even get my 5yo invovled. Those would be cute as little ornaments, too. Following your TT&J link.

    Angie@cowtownkc.blogspot.com

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  21. This is to funny. I was just thinking if I could make tags out of my Vera catalog !!!! LOVE IT

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  22. Karen I just love this idea. I could not find the hand punch, but JoAnn's did have the push down kind. They had the scrapbooking supplies on sale, so I bought the 5x7 card stock to use. Thanks for such a creative idea!

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  23. I am pretty happy to discover this post that I was trying to find for a long time. It made me truly happy and cute gift tags.

    toni

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  24. great idea! I'll start following your blog now :-) don't have that punch but I have a Go! die, wonder how that would work

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  26. Excellent idea. I just received a beautiful Christmas card with artwork from Punch Studios and I thought "there must be something creative I could re-purpose that card for". Your idea is absolutely wonderful. Thank you for sharing and inspiring.

    SewCalGal
    www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com

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