Romantic Homes

Early bird gets the holiday shopping stress out of the way. If you do your gift rounds in advance, don’t finish them off with generic sticky “to and from” tags. You have extra time to make your presents more charming than the others—here is some inspiration to get you started.

What you’ll need:

• Cardstock such as Bristol Smooth
• Calligraphy pen and ink, or any favorite pens
• Decorative-edge scissors
• Small hole punch
• Round punch with smooth or fancy edging
• Ribbons
• Baker’s twine
• Faux rhinestone jewelry adornments
• Watercolor paints and paintbrush
• Watercolor paper
• Small container of water for paints

Replace your sharpie with a calligraphy pen

Using a calligraphy pen will upgrade your gift tag from tacky to elegant—even more so if you write your names in cursive! The fancy penmanship won’t even break the bank. You can purchase an inexpensive calligraphy pen at craft stores such as Michaels.

If you want your presents to be especially posh, top them off with an initial instead. A gift tag bearing a single letter is more suitable for a smaller gift like a jewelry box.

Adorn your tag

Paint a thin stripe at the edge of your tag, then tie color coordinated baker’s twine through a small hole on the opposite end. Make sure you are using watercolor paper when working with paint. Bristol smooth paper is a desirable alternative if you want to just stick to calligraphy.

Finally, grab your decorative-edge scissors to cut scalloped or diamond edges on your paper tags for an extra pop of fun. Consider cutting initial-only tags into circles. A rectangular shape swallows a tag with only one letter.

For the presents themselves

Your pretty tags don’t need to just sit on presents! Incorporate them into the actual gifts themselves. Instead of giving someone a bouquet of flowers, spread out your favorite saying onto different tags and attach them to flower vases. Place the vases into a tray like the one above for a romantic piece of windowsill or vanity decor, an easy DIY gift for loved ones.

Another idea is to make suitcase tags—a smart gift choice, since many people flock to airports during the holiday season. These delicate tags will especially complement a vintage suitcase or storage chest.

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