Christmas Tags with Topflight Stamps

Hello and welcome to the holiday season! Happy Thanksgiving if you are here in the US and hang onto your warm fuzzy hats because Christmas is right around the corner! I have a tag and its tutorial to share with you today. I bleached loads of pine cones to sell at a craft bazaar this fall and I wanted to make tags to put on the bags. I wanted them to be festive but fairly simple since I had to make so many of them! The Darkroom Door Pine Cones stamp set was just what I needed. Added bonus: the bottom part is perforated so you can tear it off and be left with a gift tag for another use.

The bleached pine cones are perfect for decorating with and make a nice change from regular brown cones.

Here's the how-to:

Step 1 – I cut tags out of old manila folders. (You can buy pre-made tags too.) Assembly line tactics are key here. I laid down an initial layer of background color and texture by squishing Antique Linen Distress Stain onto my craft mat and then applying it to the tags with a brayer. It makes a cool streaky effect.

Step 2 –  More texture was added with random stamping with the Crackle Background stamp and Pale Ochre ink.

Step 3 – Mask sheets are a Tim Holtz product that has been discontinued which is too bad because it's really useful! There must be a similar product out there so look around if you can't find these somewhere. I stamped the pine cone onto the mask sheet with archival ink and then cut it out with fine tipped scissors. Then I stamped the pinecone in place on the tag and covered it with the mask in preparation for stamping the needles.

Step 4 – I stamped the pine needles twice with 'full strength' ink and once with the residual ink left on the stamp to make a lighter green area behind the pine cone.

Step 5 – Finishing the tag…

I made the description/price tag using a graphics program and printed them out on kraft label paper. I cut them out and stuck them onto the bottoms of the tags. About an 1/8th of an inch above the edge of the label, I used the perforation tool to inscribe a perforated line. When it's bent at the line it will rip right off so all the 'commercial' stuff is removed.

As a final step, I used a Ground Espresso Distress Marker and the Marker Spritzer to add a splatter of dark speckles over all the tags.

NOTE: All week long Topflight Stamps is having a daily deal sale! Today you can get Gel Printing Texture Plates for 25% off! Check it out and keep an eye on the site to see what the rest of the deals are. ;-)

Thanks for stopping by! Below is a list of supplies I used. Be sure to check out the Topflight Stamps blog for more inspiration. There is always something fun to see there! Have a great week and happy Thanksgiving. =)

Topflight Stamps Products:
Darkroom Door - Pine Cones
Crafty Individuals - Crackle Background


Other:

Tim Holtz Sizzix Die - Tag & Bookplates retired
Ranger Archival Ink - Pale Ochre, Potting Soil, Fern Green, Library Green, Red Geranium

Ranger Distress Stain - Antique Linen
brayer
Tonic Perforator Tool
Ranger Marker Spritzer Tool
Distress Marker - Ground Espresso
red & white bakers twine
Tim Holtz Mask Sheets - discontinued =(

Scrapbook.com and Sizzix links in this post are affiliate links which do not affect the price you pay but allow me to earn a small percentage of a sale. Thanks! (My husband also thanks you!)