When I was a kid after we had opened all of our presents my dad asked my sister and I where the bird watching book Santa gave us was.
We didn’t get a bird watching book, we told him. Yes you did, he informed us… it came with that bird feeder over there. No, we didn’t get a bird watching book, we told him again. But this time he seemed a bit irritated and told us to go through everything because he knows FOR A FACT that Santa gave us a bird watching book. Now how did he know FOR A FACT? If it was from Santa? Hmm? Something was UP.
Nowadays I remember the whole missing bird watching book Christmas debacle differently than I did as a kid. Now I’m thinking about the piles of spent wrapping paper that occurs every Christmas I’ve ever experienced and an adult’s anxiety experienced on special, meaning stressful, holidays and figure I probably would have freaked out, too! I mean there you are so frustrated at having spent a fortune on Christmas gifts and they’re going darn well missing. :)
Since this year I have gotten very SPECIFIC requests namely for gift cards or things that really go very well paired with one, I decided I wanted to keep these things securely together. I mean, who hasn’t watched a kid open an iTunes gift card and go “why did I get an iTunes gift card? I don’t have an iPo—-wait a minute? Where is it? Which package is it in? Can you help me find it?!?” ‘Cause trying to dig under the tree and remember which wrapping paper and shape combination is most likely an MP3 player is STRESSFUL for me. “WHY DID YOU GIVE ME A CATALOG YOU CHEAP S.O.B?” Well, somewhere in this mess you also got a gift card so you can buy something in that catalog so keep your panties on, Granny.
Yep, this year we’re going to avoid all of this business and keep gift cards and the gifts they go with together with these DIY felt gift card holders that also act as a name tag to secure them to the gifts they go with. Now I’m assuming nobody’s going to instantly notice the gift card in the holder, but just in case be sure they open the gift before pulling out the gift card if it’s one of THOSE surprises :) And I suppose while we’re at it, be sure they FIND the gift card if they’re particularly oblivious. Nothing like a $50 iTunes card disappearing into thin air (or a fluffof spent gift wrap) like one of those tricky, tricky bird watching books!
For this project you will need:
- Felt sheets
- Ribbon or string
- Hole punch
- Sharp scissors or rotary cutter
- Gift tag shape printable
- HTV or other embellishments
- Hot glue gun
Print your free combo gift card holder gift tag template and make sure that the PDF doesn’t change sizes when printed (fit to print, etc.) Using the shapes as guides cut 2 pieces, one the shape of the tag and the second a rectangle.
Use a sharp hole punch to create a hole at the more narrow end of the tag. I have a punch I purchased for around a buck that I use only with felt to keep them nice and sharp. It might be necessary to twist the punch around if one side cuts better than the other, just take care to center up your hole and the punch well if moving around.
You can either place the paper on top of the felt and cut or you can use the template as a guide to cut with a rotary cutter and mat if you’re handy with the set. This triangle tool helps a lot to cut the angle at the top by setting the bottom at 5.5 inches (it’s helpful but not necessary so don’t purchase just for this).
You can embellish your tags with things you already have on hand or you can purchase felt items in the gift wrapping section of stores to tack on. If you have access to a Silhouette or other cutting machine, you can cut out simple shapes from HTV to adhere on.
I used flocked HTV and cut a set of snowflakes I purchased in the Silhouette store and then used plain white HTV to cut out names of to and from. Basically since the flocked HTV is old it kept tearing when trying to cut out the little text greetings on the top of my tags. I worried that it would be super evident that one side was fuzzy and the other wasn’t but it really isn’t. The fuzzy snowflakes are cool, though :)
Now these tags don’t have to be just for Christmas, by the way… You can search online for a free image (pixabay is a good one) and cut a design that suits the occasion like my nephew’s thirteenth – woot!
Once you’ve gotten any HTV on your felt pieces you can start putting them together by running a thin line of glue along the left, right and bottom inside edges of the rectangular shape and closing shut. Remember to go HTV then hot glue because if you go hot glue then HTV, the heat from the iron to adhere your designs will make your glue melt again and spread making these seal pretty much shut.
FYI, this design is a TIGHT FIT so be sure that you use a really thin line of glue. Why a tight fit? Ever lost a $50 gift card on Christmas morning? It stinks, right? I want these cards to easily fit within but be nice and snug so they don’t easily slip right out!
Once the glue sets take a pair of sharp scissors and trim any places where the felt mismatches, any HTV or other designs hang off awkwardly, or any globs of hot glue that seeped out.
Test out each gift card holder slash gift tag to ensure the cards easily fit inside.
Success!
Now before I got super busy I had planned on hand stitching the Recipient and Gift Giver onto the felt pieces and the snowflake designs, too. That’s still totally an option if you don’t have access to a cutting machine or if you do but don’t want to raid your HTV stash for this particular project.
Cut lengths of ribbon or string and glue in a loop or tie to the holder through the punched hole at the top.
Quickly made, super cute, lots of colors and just in time for Christmas… I’m loving this little felt craft, how about you?
