Upcycled Gift Tags

When Jason and I first met six years ago and celebrated Christmas together, I remember wrapping presents and being surprised he wasn't going to use the little gift stickers that you can get at the dollar store.

"We make our own gift tags from old Christmas cards," he explained.  It was a family tradition each year to take the time to make the tags for people he loved.

At first, I thought it was strange. It was so much easier just to slap a little sticker on each gift.

But the tradition has become one of my favorites. I look forward to pulling out all of the previous year's Christmas cards and creating beautiful tags.

First, we gather all of the Christmas cards and begin finding images we think would make good tags.

Next, we cut out the images and find backgrounds from other cards to layer them. Layering is important to make them look nicer.

Glue or tape them together and include a folding rectangle where you'll write "To: and From."

That's it!  Beautiful, hand-made and green!

They look so much nicer on gifts than the dollar store stickers, even if the paper and the bows came from the dollar store!

If you feel like getting more creative with the entire wrapping process, even though you only have one day left, check out Sweet Paul. There are some great wrapping ideas on his site that I hope to use next year.  I did manage to try this one today.

We save the tags each year, but inevitably have to make more because some get lost in the mix (or they get old and worn out).  Next year, we'll need to make a lot of tags because we'll need to add a fourth family member to the "From" section!

What do you do with your Christmas cards?