3 Easy DIY Gift Tags You Can Make Yourself

Fun and original ways to create your own original gift tags. 

When you add a gift tag to a gift, it immediately makes the gift look more polished. But you don’t have to actually spend money on buying gift tags, instead, you can make your own. Here are 3 original ways in which you can create your own DIY gift tags from scratch.

#1: DIY Christmas Gift Tags

The holidays are probably the moment when most people want to use gift tags. So here is a step-by-step tutorial on how you can create your own Christmas-themed gift tags from materials you have lying around the house. It will show you how to create DIY gift tags in the shape of a Christmas tree or an ornament. And both gift tags barely cost anything.

Create your own Christmas gift tags: a Christmas tree and ornament.

Did you know that it is really easy to create your own Christmas gift tags from scratch? This way you can customize them however you want and in whatever color or material you want. This DIY gift tag is perfect for when you want to DIY your own Christmas gift tags to make sure that they fit in with your Christmas theme and decor. Or it is a great way to turn a plainly wrapped gift into a Christmas gift. Let’s take a look at how you can make these gift tags yourself.

Supplies:

To create these Christmas gift tags you will need:

  • a piece of cardboard
  • a pencil
  • a pair of scissors
  • the templates (you can find them at the bottom of the page)
  • a hole puncher
  • markers to decorate the gift tag
  • a wrapped gift and ribbon to hang the gift tag on

Preparation:

To prepare, you need to print out the templates at the bottom of the page. You can also freehand your own or even think of others shapes to use. Just leave space or a circle big enough at the top to punch the hole for the ribbon in. Once you’ve printed out your templates, go ahead and cut them out.

Step 1: Trace the shapes over on the cardboard

The first thing you need to do is to put the templates on the cardboard and trace them. Try to see beforehand how much space you have and how many of them you can draw on.

I hope you can see it in this picture. But you can actually fit in quite a lot of trees and ornaments together on a piece of cardboard. This is because the peaks of the tree fit in nicely between the ornaments. So trace out as many as you can on the cardboard. This is also a step that your kids can help out with, as many young children are able to trace shapes, though don’t expect them to be perfect or to be perfectly spaced on the cardboard.

Step 2: Cut out the shapes

The next step is to cut out the shapes. This is probably the most tricky part of the entire gift tag-making process. The trees were really annoying to cut out, but I kinda like them the best. So it was worth it, but not if you have a child do it, as it’s probably too finicky for most. Take your time and be careful while cutting them out. Keep cutting until they are all cut out.

Step 3: Punch the holes for the ribbon

The last step before you can start decorating and customizing the gift tags is to punch the holes. I use a hole puncher for this job. Just be really careful and look through the back of the hole puncher to see where the hole will line up to get it as perfectly centered as you can. And if it’s a bit crooked it’s okay. It just shows people that they are homemade.

Step 4: Customize the gift tags

To really finish off these Christmas gift tags you can further decorate them however you want. I used both red and green markers, as well as gold and silver pens to decorate them. Finish off all your gift tags in whichever way you want. I personally preferred the gold and silver ones, but the green and red ones really screamed “Christmas”. Another great addition would have been some glitter or fun stickers.

Step 5: Hang the gift tags on your gift

The final step is to put the gift tags on the ribbon. You use the hole you made and just thread the ribbon through it as you’re wrapping up the bow.

RELATED:  Colorful Gift Wrapping Ideas

DIY Gold & Silver Gift Tags

The second type of DIY gift tags are these gold and silver ones. In this tutorial, you will actually find two different design using the same shapes and their corresponding steps. This way you can create multiple designs with the same materials. So you can make both or just one type, it’s up to you. These gift tags are the most traditional ones on this list because of their shape and they also happen to be the easiest to make.

Create your own gift tags using gold and silver paint.

This DIY gift tag is perfect for when you want to DIY your own gift tags to make sure that they fit in with your gift wrapping. Or it is a great way to turn a plainly wrapped gift into a more luxurious-looking gift. This one is also great to have kids decorate and be creative with. Let’s take a look at how you can make these gift tags yourself.

Supplies:

silver and gold gift tag; supplies

To create these gold and silver gift tags you will need:

  • a piece of cardboard or cardboard paper
  • a pencil
  • a pair of scissors
  • paintbrushes
  • gold and silver paint
  • a cup or bowl for the paint
  • a triangle ruler
  • a hole puncher
  • a black marker to decorate the gift tag
  • a wrapped gift and ribbon to hang the gift tag on

Step 1: Draw a gift tag shape

The first thing you need to do is decide how big you want your gift tags to be. Then you draw out squares that are around that size. It’s always a good idea to see how many you can fit on one piece of cardboard. This way you can get more gift tags out of your material and the cutting them out part will be a lot easier.

silver and gold gift tag; draw angles using triangle

Then, you start to create the angles at the top of the gift tag. I used my triangle and centered it at the top of the gift tag and drew in the pieces I wanted to cut off. The triangle ruler is perfect for this, because it is really easy to center it in the middle of your gift tag to get an even result. And you can decide however big the cut-off pieces you want to be.

Step 2: Cut out the gift tags

silver and gold gift tag; cut out

So, as you may have noticed, I cut out the squares before drawing on the angles, which was an unfortunate decision. Because it is easier to keep all the angles the same by drawing them on while the squares are still attached to each other. This makes it a lot easier to get the angles the same size across all of them.

On the other set of tags, I was smart enough to do it in the right order. Take your time and be careful while cutting them out. And use a smaller pair of scissors if that makes it easier for you

Step 3: Punch the holes for the ribbon

silver and gold gift tag; punch holes

The last step before you can start painting and customizing the gift tags is to punch the holes. I use a hole puncher for this job. Just be really careful and look through the back of the hole puncher to see where the hole will line up.

Step 4: Paint them gold and silver

silver and gold gift tag; put paint in a bowl

Now, you are ready to start painting. So take two paintbrushes (one for each color) and put the paint in a bowl. Be sure to shake the paint well before pouring it, because metallic paints tend to separate in the bottle.

So, the next step is to choose your design. I’m going to show you two options: you can paint a stripe at the bottom and use letters or you can splatter the paint on the entire gift tag.

Gold and Silver Striped Gift Tag

silver and gold gift tag; paint stripe

The first design option is for the more precise people, you simply draw a stripe at the bottom of the tag of about half an inch wide.

To keep the stripes at the same height on all the gift tags, you can just take an already painted tag and line it up to the tag you’re about to paint. So use the other stripes to measure out where the new ones need to start.

silver and gold gift tag; paint letter

If you want, you can also use the gold and silver paint to paint on the first letter of the giftee’s (is that a word?) name. I did it here for a few of the tags, to then realize that I had two people with a J, so that wouldn’t work out that well. I ended up stopping midway, so that I could just write the names in marker later on and paint one side of all the tags at once.

silver and gold gift tag; let paint dry

Then let them dry for a bit, flip over and repeat. This way you should be left with a couple of nice gold and silver gift tags.

Now let’s take a look at the other design option. Which is perhaps the easiest, in that you don’t have to be too precise. But for me, it was more difficult, because I’m not the most spontaneous and I love to use a ruler. This second option is also great to have kids join in as it doesn’t have to be as need or precise.

Gold and Silver Splattered Gift Tag

silver and gold gift tag; cut off the excess

So, for this design, you can choose to keep the gift tags attached to each other while painting them. This way you can work faster, but you’ll have to cut them out afterward of course and wait for the paint to dry before doing so. You can start off by painting random stripes in gold on the gif tags. At this point, you can make the stripes pretty big. Try to distribute the stripes evenly over the cardboard, but leave space for the silver.

And you probably guessed it. Now you go in with the silver paint and do the same. I chose to keep the paint pretty thick in some spots, because I liked the look of it. But obviously, you don’t have to do the same. Just do whatever you want with it.

 silver and gold gift tag; paint random stripes - keep adding stripes

At the end, you can go back in with the other color and just keep painting until you think it’s done. Then you let it dry and do the same on the other side.

Step 5: Hang the gift tags on your gift

The final step is to put the gift tags on the ribbon. You use the hole you made and just thread the ribbon through it.

A Tiny Envelope Gift Tag

The last DIY gift tag on this list is the most complicated, but also the cutest in my opinion. This tiny envelope gift tag tutorial will teach you how to fold it, cut it, and put it all together so that you can have a really original gift tag on your gifts. It also includes a template that you can use to get the shape of the envelope right. I hope that you like this DIY gift tag as much as I do.

tiny envelope gift tag DIY

Create your own tiny envelope gift tag.

Personally, this tiny envelope gift tag is one of my favorites. This DIY gift tag is perfect for when you want to DIY your own gift tags to make sure that they fit in with your gift wrapping and you’re willing to get crafty. This tiny envelope is a great way to turn a plainly wrapped gift into a more fancy gift. Let’s take a look at how you can make these envelope gift tags yourself.

Supplies:

DIY tiny envelope gift tag supplies

To create these gold and silver gift tags you will need:

  • a piece of colored paper
  • the template (you can find it at the bottom of this page)
  • a pencil
  • a black marker
  • a pair of scissors
  • double-sided tape
  • a wrapped gift put the gift tag on

Step 1: Trace the template on the colored paper & cut out

The first thing you need to do is print out your template and trace it onto your colored paper. Try to be as precise as possible, because this is going to make it easier to fold correctly later on

Once you’ve traced out the envelope template, you can start cutting it out. It’s easier to do so precisely with a bigger pair of scissors, because all the edges are straight edges. You can either cut the small square out of your colored paper or out of another piece of paper in a different color. The little square is the ‘card’ that’s going to be inside the envelope.

Step 2: Fold the tiny envelope

Now that you have all the pieces you need, you can start constructing the envelope. To create a tiny envelope out of the cut-out shape, all you need to do is look at the square that is in the center of the template. These are the folding lines. You’re basically going to fold a square out of a diamond shape. So fold in the four triangles, they should overlap a bit for the next step.

Step 3: Glue the tiny envelope together

Now comes the most fiddly part of this DIY. You need to glue it all together. To do this, you start out by taking your double-sided tape and cutting off a piece. Then you can cut the piece in half lengthwise. This way you have two thin pieces of tape.

Then, you can tape these two pieces onto the outer edge of one of the bigger folded-in triangles. So, on the bottom triangle, you make sure that the side triangles can stick to it where they overlap. Now all that is left to do is to fold the envelope back together. And the first part of the tiny envelope gift tag is done.

Step 4: Write a message on the little card

Now that you have the envelope itself made, you can start thinking about what you’re going to put in it. Simply use the little square to write your message or name on. And put it in the envelope. If you messed up, just measure out a new one. This is why I prefer to write on the card instead of on the envelope gift tag itself. Because it’s a lot less work when you mess up.

Step 5: Stick the envelope gift tag on your gift

The final step is to put the gift tag on the gift. You use a bit of double-sided tape and stick it on the gift where you want the tiny envelope gift tag to go. And then just press on there. This would also be a great way to add some cash to a small gift in a fun and original way.

tiny envelope gift tag DIY

So are you going to try and make any of these DIY gift tags?

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