Monday, January 23, 2012

Valentines Tags Tutorial

From Plain white cardstock to finished valentine

I cut white cardstock into 2" strips and paper punched the bottom edge using a Martha Stewart lace punch. These are approx. 3 1/2" long. I also punched a small hole in the top for the string.
The paper was hand dyed using craft acrylic paint diluted in water. I didn't measure anything. Drop the tags into the diluted paint and let them soak a little while. Remove them and lay the flat on paper towels. You can cut your string while you wait for these to air dry a bit.
Wrap crochet string around a 5" x 3" chipboard card as many times as you have tags plus a few.

Cut the string loose from the chipboard. Set aside while you speckle paint your tags.
Dab a stiff old tooth brush in the paint straight from the bottle. You only need a little bit on the brush. Spatter test it on a scrap of paper. If the spatter is too big, you have too much paint. Spatter lightly all over the tags front only.

Dry your tags in a 350 oven, watching them carefully not to burn. This takes only a few minutes. The tags will warp and crinkle maybe. That's OK. Remove tags from oven when completely dry.
Attach strings to tag tops. A crochet hook works great for this step.
Stamp fabric heart using sepia ink and a love letter stamp.
Hand stamp LOVE below the heart
String a needle with crochet thread and sew the heart to the front of the tag and tie in a pretty bow.
The back is plain and has plenty of room to write something sweet. You could write a little love note on the front if you like.
These are super easy to make! I hope you'll make some too!



You can use any color or style fabric hearts!

1 comment:

Suz said...

Those are too cute, Hope! I keep hoping to get to some Valentine crafting but this might not be the year. I also have all my Christmas stuff all over the craft room. Thanks so much for your kind note. I didn't realize that this was the two year anniversary for your brother. I know how you miss him.
Hugs,
Suz