Take a piece of cardboard, cut into the desired size, create holiday images with washi tape and ink. Result? Unique one-of-a-kind DIY Christmas gift tags.
I am not under any illusion that we’re making anything that will become museum pieces in a few centuries. Yes, we do love the artsy aspect of doing crafts projects. But, more than that, we love bonding over these activities.
If you’re a parent and you want to share activities with your children that are more than watching television or going shopping, I suggest crafts. Card and board games are wonderful too.
If you do choose crafts, I suggest using a square table and placing all the supplies near the center where everyone can reach for them. We use a low table (the coffee table I snatched from the living room) and sit on cushions on the floor. Sometimes, we play music or movies in the background.
We’ve been into DIY gift tags since the girls were in grade school but this is the first time that we’re decorating the gift tags with washi tape. I went to Google and Pinterest for inspiration and, from there, we just let our imagination rule. We did 2D and 3D cards, and I took photos of some of them.
My favorite 2D cards had candles. We took washi tapes in different colors, patterns and lengths and taped on construction board that we had cut earlier. Alex drew the wicks and flames using ink.
We also did a couple of 3D designs—one featuring a gift box and, the other, a wreath. Both were adorned with red ribbon.
Making DIY gift tags is not an exercise in economy. It’s cheaper to buy ready-made ones. DIY projects entail buying tools and accessories. But you can’t put a price tag on the moments you spend doing projects with your kids.
And it isn’t only during Christmas that you can do crafts projects. We’re planning on doing this all year ’round. For our birthdays, for Valentine’s Day, for the Flowers of May festival, Halloween… if we run out of occasions, we’ll invent some.
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