Make your own holiday personalized name tags

This is a fun holiday crafting idea I got from a friend of mine.  She loves the holidays and made these personalized name tags for herself for work.  They are really simple to make because almost all the work was already done.  They are inexpensive to make, too!  I thought this would be a really fun personalized gift to make for someone you know who loves holidays and who wears a name tag at work.  This would also be a really fun and easy kid’s craft that turns into a personalized gift for a family member who wears a name tag at work. 

The wood shapes are already painted and available at many craft stores, especially as a holiday draws near.  Then all you need to do is glue on a pin to the back.  You can use hot glue or glue that adheres easily to surfaces like wood and metal (for example, Aleen’s Tacky Glue or Sobo Craft Glue).  Just make sure to put on enough glue so the pin is securely adhered to the back of the wood (see picture). 

Apply plenty of glue to back of wooden cut-out

Then take blank address labels and put the name of the person on the label.  You can handwrite the person’s name or print it using your computer or use rubberstamps.  Cut away the excess of the label, so the name fits easily on the name tag (see pictures below).

You could make a gift set of personalized name tags for their favorite holiday or one name tag for each of the holidays.  If you choose to make one for each of the holidays, plan ahead so that you can find these pre-painted wood cut-outs throughout the year in your local craft store or online.  These name tags are sure to be a big hit!

Happy Crafting,

AJ

Halloween Bat Name Tag

Halloween Witch Name Tag

After Christmas sales are a great time to stock up on crafting supplies that can be used next Christmas or throughout the year.  I find myself buying items like: 

– Embellishments (ribbon, envelop seals, etc.)

– Containers (for putting handmade gifts inside of…like boxes, gift bags, baskets, tins, etc.  Sometimes the design on them is generic and can be used throughout the year for your crafting and gift giving.)

– Ornaments (I turn them into handmade gifts by doing  something crafty with them or I might use them as embellishments on a gift. )

– Candy Canes ( I use them to decorate gifts.  They come in so many different colors now that it is easy to buy a candy cane that matches whatever color gift wrap you are using.)

– Gift wrap I can use throughout the year ( I buy red, green and white tissue paper, as well as red, green and clear rolls of cellophane. )

One example for a craft project with a holiday ornament is making a wall hanging or framed artwork.  I saw an ornament that was a giant silver heart with the word “peace” on it.  One idea I had was to embellish the hole at the top of the ornament (where the string was threaded through to enable it to hang on a tree) with ribbon, or beads (or both) and put it in a frame.  As a final touch, you could put decorative paper or fabric behind the heart in the frame.  This would make a wonderful handmade gift for someone

If you’ve got a tip for shopping after Christmas sales, post a comment to this blog post.  We’d all love to hear your tips!

Happy Crafting!

AJ