Mixed Media Christmas Tags

14 November
It's time to start preparing for Christmas!! I know, I know... it's not even Thanksgiving yet! But I think you'll like this kind of preparation activity!

Use some old cards to make these sweet tags!

Because it involves vintage items and gluing and cutting and embellishing and just general crafty happiness!

These cute Christmas package tags started out as a bunch of used vintage Christmas cards. By used I mean that someone had written in them so they are not suitable for much of anything except collecting... or crafting, my favorite!

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You can find lots of vintage Christmas cards right HERE on Etsy!


I do not have all the fancy scrapbooking punches and I'm here to show you that you really don't need them. If you already have a tag punch then that's great! But you can make this by simply making a pattern first.

I used one of the old card parts with writing on it. Then I could cut all my tags and they would be the same size. You could make them longer or shorter but they will be the same width.



Here I have several tag shapes ready for embellishing!


I'll show you how I made the first one.

There are also lots of old trims and embellishments available on Etsy if you need some!

I have lots of vintage lace and trims so I found some that I liked from my stash. I thought this lace was pretty and matched the color of the old card pretty well.

Cut a piece of lace slightly longer than your tag.

Run a bead of glue along the bottom edge of the tag and attach the lace piece.


Then flip the tag over and glue the edges of the lace down.


I also have lots of old paper pieces and trims. I chose some off-white crepe paper streamer to create a little paper rosette.


Here is how to make one.

  1. Cut a length of crepe paper (about 18" long) and then cut a smaller strip from that (about 1" wide).
  2. Using a long sewing needle threaded with white upholstery or carpet thread do a running stitch along one edge of the paper being extra careful that you don't tear the paper.
  3. Once you have it all on your needle pull the needle out the opposite end, you'll be left with a little ruffly piece.
  4. Tie the ends of the thread together, pulling tight and knot it off.
  5. Arrange the rosette so the ruffles are somewhat evenly spread.
  6. Now, smash it flat! 😁 (I know this part is painful... smashing your pretty rosette... you don't have to do it but I think it adds to the vintage feel... like something that has been saved in a scrapbook for years!)



Add your pretty little rosette to the tag with a dab of glue.


Cut a length of some Christmasy ribbon and tie it into a knot or bow (whatever your preference).



Add it to the top of the rosette. You can see I changed my mind and added a vintage glass ornament pick under my rosette.


These tags are so much fun to make! You can use all sorts of different embellishments and trims! As you may have guessed, you can also find vintage Christmas embellishments on Etsy!

Here are some other tags I made.

This was a pretty busy card to start with so I just layered on some faux holly leaves and berries over the image on the card and then added some pom-pom trim and sparkly ribbon.


For this one, I also used one of the greetings from inside a different card. It's cut into a little flag shape and then stapled on! Fringe trim and some teeny-tiny pinecones that I clipped off an old lapel pin! They are seriously the tiniest pinecones I've ever seen and they are real!!


This is one of my very favorite tags. I found a box of vintage replacement bulbs at an estate sale... they actually screw into the string of lights! They don't make 'em like that anymore!

Then I happened to find a little scrap of ribbon I had saved (obviously for this very project 😉) that says Twinkle and Shine... now that's a coincidence!!


For this music-themed card, I cut another little flag shape out of a blank area of a card and then wrote Fa la la on it!


This one is pretty simple with some lace and rick-rack trim and a bow that I had saved from a box of chocolates.


I have a little box of these plastic snowflakes (also from an estate sale). I thought a pink one looked great with the snowy scene on the card. I added another greeting from one of the cards across the center.


This one was actually a birthday card but it makes a cute Christmas tag doncha think?!



This is my second favorite card. The tiniest deer on earth I think! Isn't he cute!? I could imagine him prancing around in this winter wonderland scene. I used a strip of washi tape along the top and another greeting.


What do you think? Don't they look like fun to make!?  I seriously wish you lived close by, we could have a tag making night with drinks and snacks!

If you are one of my newsletter subscribers you also got these as free printables (the flatter version that is! 😉)

I printed one to show that they are still super cute!


Here is how it looks tied to a package.


I would love to receive this present! Well... except that this is actually just an empty box... I would be pretty pissed if I received an empty box even WITH that adorable tag... come on... put a present in that yo!!


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If you don't want to miss out on any more fun freebies like printable tags you can subscribe to join the tribe here (you'll get the ebook mentioned too)!


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