Easy DIY Christmas Gift Tags

With just a few simple supplies, you can make your own Christmas gift tags. Just follow these easy DIY instructions to make gifts tags that match your Christmas gifts and traditions.

Everyone loves getting and giving gifts during this time of year. After all, giving is what this time of year is all about. One of my favorite parts of this season is wrapping the presents that I’ve gotten for others. I really enjoy making time to specially wrap each one. Making them look beautiful and festive while they sit waiting under the Christmas tree is part of the fun. For my family, Christmas gifts tags have been part of this process.

Growing up, my family would often celebrate Christmas with cousins and other family members all staying in one house. This meant a lot of different people were getting presents. Gift tags became essential to make sure the right person got the right present.

Now though, being a lover of diy and art projects, I wanted to try making my own gift tags by hand and see if I could create a project that would be easy for kiddos. Since my little boy is only 6 months, I didn’t want to push it with trying a Christmas art project. However, this easy diy Christmas gift tag project should be a great one to add to your holiday festivities. With or without the kids, it’s a great Christmas craft project.

Something I love about this diy project is that it is easy to create personalized Christmas gift tags. You know who you are making the tag for, so you can customize the gift tag to your heart’s content! The basic supplies are the same, but keep in mind the people you are making the homemade gift tag for and what gift you are giving them. I love gift giving according to a theme and the tag can be a part of that.

What do you write on a Christmas gift tag?

The essentials for a Christmas gift tag are who the gift is for, who the gift is from, and usually I include a little message along with it. The message can be something seasonal, such as “Merry Christmas”, or it could be something more personal. Depending on who the gift is for and whether they are opening it publicly or privately may determine what kind of greeting you should put on the Christmas tag.

What do I need to make my own Christmas gift tags?

–Card Stock Paper & Seasonal Paper: Depending on how you would like to customize your gift tags, you can choose Christmas theme paper to make your own unique Christmas gift tags. I recommend a thicker or heavy weight paper because it will be less likely to tear and easier to attach with a ribbon or string to your gift.

–Ribbon or String: You will need to attach your personalized gift tag to your present with something that matches the tag itself. My recommendation is a neutral color or one that accents the paper colors you have.

–Single Hole Punch: This tool will make your life so much easier and helps give your tag a nice, clean look. So much easier than trying to cut a hole out with scissors.

–Circle Shape Lever Punch: With my own customized gift tags, I decided to use the circle shape lever punch to create an ornament on the gift tag. You could use a circle, a tree lever punch,, or star or whatever you like best!

–Watercolors: Watercolors are really where your kiddos could have a lot of fun with this project. I don’t know any kid who wouldn’t want to “help” with a project that includes paints! Plus, the bonus of this project is that they can be messy! There really are no specific rules about how to paint – just cover the page. I’ll explain more below!

–Scissors or Paper Cutter: Personally, I absolutely love the clean, crisp lines of my paper cutter. However, I’ve used scissors plenty of times for Christmas gifts tags. Both will work!

–Ruler: You will want some help making sure the gift tags are all the same size, right? Measuring helps. 😉

–Pens & Pencils: These help when adding final details to your beautiful and festive creations!

–Paint Brush: You will want a medium to large rounded brush to make the watercolor strokes that still allow for variations in size. However, it really just depends on what is easiest for your kiddo to use.

–Double-Sided Tape: You could use double-sided adhesive foam squares if you want to give your gift tag a 3D-effect, but it isn’t necessary. I used double sided sticky tape to create my own unique Christmas tags.

Tips:

-While I used the watercolors red and green for my own gift tags, you could really use any combination of colors that you choose. I would make sure it matches or accents the base color of your gift tag, but other than that consideration, there really is no limit on what color combination to choose.

-My plan is to use these for all kinds of gifts, whether wrapped in paper, in a bag, or in a jar. These gift tags would be so cute with a cookie mix in a jar or a homemade hot chocolate mix!

-Please feel free to use this guide as inspiration for how to make your own custom Christmas gift tags. While this process is my own, let it be the jumping off point for you to create something new!

How can I make my own Christmas tags?

Step 1: Lay out your supplies. It is always easiest to do crafts of any kinds when you have all of the supplies readily available.

Step 2: Using the paint brush, wet the red color with plenty of clean water. Then paint many strokes of red across the card stock paper. (Kids love this part!) You do not need to cover the entire paper, but you also want to make sure there are not any large white spots left. Be careful here not to get the paper too wet! Once you have finished with the red, let the paper dry and clean the brush.

Step 3: Once the paper is dry, use the paint brush to wet the green color with plenty of clean water. Then paint the strokes of green in the same method as the red. Be sure to leave space where you can see red through the green. Once finished, let the paper get good and dry.

Step 4: While your watercolored paper is drying, cut 3inch by 2inch rectangles out of your seasonal paper of choice using the scissors or paper cutter and ruler. They don’t have to be perfect, but try to get as clean of a cut as possible. After cutting out your tags, hole punch them with the single hole punch so they are fully prepped.

Step 5: With the fully dried watercolored paper, use the circle shape lever punch to cut out a circle for each of your tags. The fun part of this process is that each circle will be different and will let you create unique Christmas gift tags for each person on your list!

Step 6: Now it is time to assemble all of the pieces of your homemade gift tags! You will need to use the double-sided sticky tape to attach the circle cut of watercolored paper to your rectangles of seasonal paper. I attached mine opposite to the single hole punch and in the center. Put yours anywhere you choose!

Step 7: If you wish to decorate with some more fine details, now is the time to add them with your pens and pencils! I used my fine point Sharpie pen to add the top to my ornament and a Christmas greeting. You could add even more doodles or details as you choose. Be creative! This is where you get to add your personal touch to the handmade gift tag.

Step 8: Thread the ribbon or string through the single hole punch, and you are finished! Add your gift tag to any wrapped present, and be confident in the personal touch you’ve added to your gift!

There are so many unique ways to make these Christmas gift tags your own. I hope you enjoy creating these gift labels, and remember to share them with me!