Recycle last year’s calendar into Handmade Gift Tags

New year, new wall calendar, but what do you do with the old one? Every year I feel like I could be doing something productive and craftsy with the beautiful images that seemed destined for the recycle bin. This year I came up with an easy way to re-use them that’s both pretty and will please others – giving them new lives as gift tags.

Gift tags come in handy throughout the year and the graphics from your calendar serve as the decorative side. On the other side is a matte paper surface where you can write a personalised message. The calendar I used last year, The Secret Garden, is particularly pretty and filled with colourful images of gardens and flowers.

For this project you will need just a few items
(the links in this post will direct you to Amazon.com*):

Last year’s calendar
Spray Adhesive/ Spray Mount
Craft paper such as This array of Pastel Card Stock
Metal ruler
Cutting tool like this Retractable Razor Knife
Hole puncher
Scissors



Step 1: Select the images you’d like to use from your calendar and match them against the colour of card/craft paper you’d like to have on the other side. To get them to stick together without causing wrinkling or damage in the paper you’ll need to use a Spray Adhesive. If you use an ordinary glue it’s very likely that you’ll have streaking and damage coming through from one or both sides of your gift tags.

Step 2: Follow the directions on the bottle and spray one side of the card paper you’d like to use. When the adhesive is ready (you’ll probably have to wait about 30 seconds), stick the paper onto the back side of the calendar image you’d like to use. Press it down firmly and then leave it for a minute or so to form a bond.

Step 3: Using your Metal ruler and Retractable Razor Knife, measure and cut the paper into gift tag sized cards. The ones in the image below are 2-3/4″ by 1-1/2″. When you flip all of the cards over you have an abstract cut out of the original image. If it includes lots of bold colours or detail, all the better for each gift tag!

Another idea is to create gift cards – double the size of the pieces you cut out, for example to 2-3/4″ by 3″. You could just fold it in half to create the card now but if you want a fine folding line you can score that fold. Measure where you’d like the fold, which in this example would presumably be 1-1/2″ in, and then using your metal ruler and cutting tool slice a fine line down that folding point. Not all the way through but about half-way through. When you fold along that line the fold will be crisp and professional looking.

Step 4: A simple Hole puncher and pair of scissors can be used to create a hole to put string through and to soften sharp corners. The holes I punched into the cards are in the centre but you could put them at the corner depending on your preference.

And that’s it! This upcycling project will take you less than twenty minutes start to finish and will keep you in stock of high-quality gift tags all year long. Don’t you love an easy project that gives materials a second life?

The post Recycle last year’s calendar into Handmade Gift Tags appeared first on Lovely Greens.