Gift tag

I loooove giving gifts. Everybody knows that:D. I always enjoyed finding (and even more making) the perfect gift for a loved one. So I agree, the content matters. A lot. But still, a nicely wrapped gift is so much more magical! My daughters tell me to always wrap presents for their friends because the unwrapping gives them so much more pleasure than receiving a gift bag! *Although gift tags can also be used on a gift bag if you’re pressed for time:).

Yes, content matters. But so does the presentation:)

What’s it all about
Gift tags (also called gift labels or present tags and even swing tags) are small (usually decorated) pieces of cards with the name of the gift recipient on the front or the backside. They can be bought or handmade and are usually rectangular (-ish) or round (-ish) in shape but can be much more intricate, with lacy holes etc. The standard sizes are 3 to 5 inches by 2,5 inches (7,5 to 12,5 cm by 2,5 cm) but they can really be any size – usually according to the size of the present.

Here, large die-cut comic-book-style letters were used instead of gift tags.

Where it originates from
I haven’t found any clear origin story but the art of gift wrapping started in the 2nd Century BC China and from there spread over to Japan where it became a form of art in the 14th century. Furoshiki is wrapping gifts with fabric in a very aesthetically pleasing and usually minimalistic way. In the USA tissue paper was used and then from that gift-wrapping paper was born. And somehow gift tags got tagged along…

You wouldn’t guess there are more than 100 gifts with gift tags in this picture, would you?:)

How to complicate your life – ie make your own gift tags
One year our Grandpa Frost and his elves made more than 100 gift tags!!! Yep, I counted them and I can’t remember the exact number but they were well over 100! I know, that’s a lot of presents – but in our defence, I must add that there are 5 members in this family and usually Grandpa Frost brings presents for grandpa as well… Our kids are not that needy (they always write to Grandpa Frost 3 wishes for gifts and one of them is usually a surprise or a book) but our tree is usually quite full of gifts, nevertheless. So yea, 100 gift tags, quite a task for the elves! No wonder they put themselves on them! Some had die-cut elves, some stamped elves or other winter scenery, some were snowmen made from punches, some were just hand cut.

A tutorial showing you how to make these cute little gnome tags is waiting for you on my YT channel.

I recreated them this year for my yt channel because I thought someone else might want to try – so if you want to see how they are made head over here:). They are made with just the basic office/ household supplies and recycled cardboard so that really anybody could do it and that wouldn’t stress moms or elves over the world with more things to buy and take care of. Maybe there are some elves somewhere who would love to make something like that during the long winter nights, who knows;).

There’s a lot of little gifts underneath our tree so that means a lot of gift tags:)

If you make them, I’d love to see them or know how it went:). Comment down below and/or on the youtube video or tag me on social @very.arty.fairy and/or use #veryartyfairy. If you have no time for this, I hope you enjoy the reading, the pictures or the video:).
Happy holidays!