Christmas Craft Ideas - A Vintage Christmas Craft Idea With Gift Tags

Christmas Craft Ideas - A Vintage Christmas Craft Idea With Gift Tags

A Vintage Christmas Gift Tag Box

Many people look for Christmas craft ideas because they're looking for that 'something' special to give to their loved ones. And nothing is more special than something you've made yourself, with your own hands.

This beautiful gift tag box is not only a beautiful Christmas craft idea but it's also a useful one. Make it for yourself or give it to a lucky recipient to store their Christmas tags, ready for the festive Christmas period!

And the great news is that every piece of decorated paper used to make the gift tags and box is from the printable Vintage Christmas eKit. So if you like this Christmas craft idea, and if you have a few basic card supplies, you can download the printable Vintage Christmas card making kit and get started within minutes!

Here are the instructions for a handmade card idea like this one...

Difficulty Level: One of the more advanced Christmas craft ideas.

To make this card you will need the printable Vintage Christmas eKit, which can be found here...

You Will Need:

• Sheets 'vintage-xmas-034', 'vintage-xmas-035', 'vintage-xmas-060', 'vintage-xmas-082', 'vintage-xmas-138' from the printable Vintage Christmas eKit
• 4 sheets of white A4 card (to print on)
• 1 piece of plain brown card stock
• Green glitter glue
• A border punch or scallop edge decorative scissors and a hole punch or eyelet setter (to create small holes)
• Normal scissors
• Gold string
• Natural string
• Foam pads or foam tape
• A pencil, compass and ruler for drawing the various shapes ('squares', 'circles', and 'label 1' Nestabilities dies were used to cut out the shapes that are shown in the gift tag box photographed above but you can draw the shapes with a pencil, compass, ruler and scallop edge scissors, and then cut them out using scissors instead)
• Sheer red ribbon
• Lace
• Something to score your card with
• Glue or double sided tape

1. Print it! Open up the printable 'Vintage Christmas' ekit [the what?].
   
   
   
   1. Print out the 'vintage-xmas-034' sheet onto card.
   2. Next, feed the card back into your printer, and print out the 'vintage-xmas-060' on the other side.
   3. Print out the following sheets onto card:
   1. Sheet 'vintage-xmas-035'
   2. Sheet 'vintage-xmas-138'
   3. Sheet 'vintage-xmas-082

   
   First, let's make your box...

2. Mark and cut it! Grab your double sided, patterned sheet of card. Mark out a rectangle that measures 11" x 6", and cut it out.
3. Mark and score it! Use your pencil to lightly mark out a 1" margin along all four edges of your new rectangle. Score along the lines.
4. Mark and score it again! Mark out two more lines at 5" and 6" (along the long side). Score along the lines. This scored strip is going to the 'back wall' of your box (that is attached to your lid).
5. Decorative edge! Let's decorate the lid of your box with some scallop edging:
   
   1. First of all, let's locate where your lid is on your rectangle. Place the rectangle down in front of you, green polka dot side up. It should be placed horizontally (i.e. with the longest side closest to you). Your lid is the part of the rectangle that lies to the left of the central scored strip. The bottom part of the box is the part of the rectangle that lies to the right of the central scored strip. For now, we're just interested in the left side - the lid.
   2. Use your border punch to decorate the three edges of your lid. Tip: As you can see in the photo, a border punch was used to create the decorative scallop edging with tiny holes in each scallop. But if you don't have a border punch like this, you can use some scallop edge scissors and a hole punch or eyelet setter tool (to make the tiny holes) instead.



6. Flap it! Let's prepare the flaps:
   
   1. Locate one of the small squares in one of the four corners of your rectangle. All we need to do is 'free up' an edge of that small square, so that we can create a 'flap'. So grab your scissors and cut along one side of that small square.
   2. Score along the other side of the small square.
   3. OK, so now we have one side of the square that's cut, and one side of the square that's been scored. This is our first flap. Fold this new little flap upwards (towards you).
   4. Repeat for each of the remaining three squares in each corner of your rectangle.
7. Fold it! It's time for your lid to take shape!
   
   1. Remember those lines you scored to make a 1" margin? Pick one of those score lines and use your bone folder to carefully fold the short edge upwards (towards you).
   2. Repeat for each of the remaining three score lines at the 1" margins. You'll slowly see your lid take shape.



8. Stick it! Create perfect corners for your lid by sticking the flaps on the inside.
9. Box it! Repeat steps 6-8 to make the bottom part of the box (the part that's on the right hand side of the centrally scored strip).
10. Add lace and ribbon!
    
    1. Stick the lace along the three edges of your lid. Tip: The lace should be lined up against the top of the lid.
    2. Then stick the red ribbon over the lace. Tip: The ribbon should also be lined up against the top of the lid.
    3. Let's make the ribbon handle! Fold a small piece of red ribbon in two, and poke the loop through a central hole (make sure that you thread the ribbon from the inside of the lid, so that the loop is on the outside). On the inside of the lid, tie the ribbon ends in a small, neat knot. Then, to make sure you ribbon handle is secure, glue the knot to the inside of the lid.



 

11. Cut it! Let's cut out the elements for the top of your lid now...
    
    1. Grab sheet 'vintage-xmas-082' and cut out the framed sentiment, 'Wishing You A Very Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year'.
    2. Next place your framed sentiment onto sheet 'vintage-xmas-138'. Draw a slightly larger rectangle around the sentiment and cut it out.
    3. Finally, place the red polka dot rectangle onto your plain brown card stock. Draw a larger rectangle around it and cut it out. Tip: Make sure that you leave enough room to add scallop edging.
    4. Carefully cut along the edges of your plain brown rectangle with your scallop edge scissors.



12. Mat it! Using some foam pads or foam tape (to add dimension):
    
    1. Stick the green greeting to the red polka dot rectangle, in a central position.
    2. Then stick the red polka dot rectangle to the brown scallop edged rectangle, in a central position.
    3. Then stick the whole thing to the top of your lid, in a central position.
13. Glitter it! Decorate the frame of your sentiment with green glitter glue.


Now let's make the gift tags!

14. Trim it! Carefully cut out the framed sentiments from sheets 'vintage-xmas-035' and 'vintage-xmas-082'. Tip: You can cut the sentiments out by following along the outer edges of the frames or you can leave a margin. For example, for the circular sentiments on sheet 'vintage-xmas-035', you could use a compass to draw a slightly larger circle around the framed sentiment, and cut along that line instead.
15. Hole it! Let's create holes for your string to poke through. Use your hole punch to punch holes near the top of each tag.
16. String it! Attach a length of string to each tag.
17. Tidy up! Place all of your new tags inside the box and close the lid!
    

This Christmas craft idea is so gorgeous that we're not sure if you'll be able to give this gift tag box away once you've made it! It's a veritable piece of vintage Christmas chic that anyone's bound to want to keep. And it can become a wonderful keepsake that you and your family can look forward to digging out every year, when the festive Christmas season approaches.