How to make a chalkboard gift tag
Don't you just love when your stitching can be re-used (and re-loved!) year after year after year? Today I have a project that can be just that....re-usable gift tags!
You may be wondering how on earth they are re-useable....well they're chalkboard tags! How cool is that?!! I hate to think of any of my stitching being thrown out, but there's really not much you can do with a little cross stitch tag after it has been used....no matter how cute it is! But by making your cross stitch into chalkboard tags, they can be used again and again and again! Environmentally friendly and frugal too. It's a win, win situatiuon.
This post contains affiliate links to products I trust. This means if you make a purchase using the links, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support!
So grab your cross stitch design - we used one of our free 'A Year of Christmas Stitching' designs and also the little snowman design from our Etsy shop.
To make these re-useable tags all you need are some little wooden shapes like this from your local craft store - you can use any shape, hearts, stars, circles etc. These little tag shaped ones I found were really cheap, I think I paid something like 60 cents for each of them! I just wish I had bought more :) The hardest part of this project is peeling off the sticky label on the back of the wooden shape. Honestly, that really was the hardest part, these super-sticky labels refused to come off in one piece!
Once you remove the label you will need...
narrow ribbon
All you have to do is give the wooden shape a couple of coats of chalkboard paint - don't forget to do the sides and the back! I used a traditional black chalkboard colour, but you can get chalkboard paints in lots of other colours! You can use bright red or Christmas green instead if you want a brighter tag. I used a sponge brush on the front and back to get a nice smooth finish and then a small regular brush for doing the sides.
Once the chalkboard paint is dry, I added the little dot and dash line all round the tag with a paint pen. You can get paint pens in lots of different colours and thicknesses so you can decorate you tags in lots of different ways....you can, of course, skip this step altogether, it's totally up to you what you want to do!
You should always 'season' a new chalk board - you don't have to go to the pantry for any ingredients ;) , just simply cover the whole tag with chalk (I find using the long edge of a piece of chalk works best) then wipe it clean with a dry cloth. If you don't 'season' a new chalkboard, there will always be a ghost image of whatever you wrote first.
For the holly tag, I stitched the design on regular aida then backed it with iron-on interfacing so that the black background of the tag wouldn't show through the holes in the aida. This step is optional but recommended :) Trim the stitching - I cut one square from the edge of the stitching, but you can trim it to whatever works best for your size of tag.
Glue the stitching in place and leave to dry. Add a narrow ribbon through the hole.....and you're done!
The snowman gift tag was made slightly differently as I wanted a bigger tag - some gifts just need a big tag! :) This design was stitched on plastic canvas as the snowman would not have the wooden tag supporting the stitching and I wanted it to be a bit more robust and last for several Christmases.
The stitching was cut one square from the edge (You can find a detailed description of how to stitch on plastic canvas here ) I glued a co-ordinating coloured ribbon to the back of the snowman at the top of his hat, then backed the stitching with white card. Use the cut out stitching as a template for making the card backing - don't worry about how neat or accurate it is, no-one will be looking at the back! The card just protects the threads and looks a bit neater than seeing the exposed threads on the back. Again, if you wish to omit this step you can.
Paint and decorate the tag as before (don't forget to season this tag too!) then attach the snowman leaving enough room on the tag for you to write the recipients name.
Now all that's left to do is wrap up your gifts and add these adorable re-useable tags!
Happy stitching!
-Rhona
P.S Don't forget to pin an image to Pinterest!
