Holiday Tag Making Party

A gift tag making party is the perfect kind of gathering to invite friends over for an afternoon of girl talk, tasty nibbles, and some crafty fun.  It's especially good for your friends who say they "Aren't Crafty", as if there's such a thing!  Everyone is creative, they just might not have had enough opportunities to be so. 

Creating tags is a quick project, several can be made quickly and it's low stress for those who aren't used to doing creative play.  It's also a good theme for the hostess as it requires relatively few supplies and introduces her friends to a cherished hobby.  Anyone who's been a papercrafter for any amount of time probably has everything needed on hand already. 

I put together a tray with all sorts of crafty goodies to greet my guests with, as an attractively displayed supplies can be enough to get everyone excited to get started.  Here is what I suggest you include in addition to a couple of pairs of scissors and colored markers.

Provide a selection of blank tags for your guests in a variety of shapes, sizes, and papers.  I packaged the tags for each guest up in a holiday colored Chinese take out box.  I used my Cricut to cut the tags out, but blank tags in several different sizes and colors can be purchased by the package, as well as the boxes, at craft stores.

I raided my stash to put together a collection of embellishements for each guest that included buttons, stickers, red & white twine, paper flower, glittery words, and some layered die cuts I made with my Sizzix machine.  The contents of each bowl was identical for each guest.

Here is a better view of the kind of supplies I provided.  I also covered the glue sticks with festive paper, just for the cuteness factor.

Itty bitty alphabet stamps were put out for making sentiments.  Not shown, is the collection of seasonal stamps I put out nearby along with my embossing powders (seen in top photo in center of tray), inks, heat gun, and baby wipes for quick clean up.  It's a good idea to suggest any stamping on the back of the tag be done before working on the front, for example if they want to add the "To" and "From" there.

Because tags are so small, it's a good time to pull out any sizable scraps you have left over from other projects like scrapbook pages.  These are great for covering blank tags or adding layers.  I pre-trimmed any odd shaped scraps I had into squares and rectangles to make them easier to flip through and use.  I had some larger scraps clipped together that did not fit in the bowl as well.  You can get a glimpse of these in the photo below.

It's also a good time to pull out what I call my "One and Onlys".  These are left over bits and pieces from sticker sheets or embellishment packs.  Things that are too nice to throw away or pass onto my kiddo fo her crafts but not likely to be used again by me.  This provides a few extra tidbits for guests to play along with.

It's nice to provide some light refreshments.  Besides coffee and a selection of teas, I served a Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball with Chocolate Graham Crackers for a bit of sweetness.  The dip is delish, tastes like cheesecake filling, yum-o!  To give a light lighter option, I also put out some sliced green & red apples and caramel dip.

After a couple of hours of chatting, snacking, and crafting my guests had created a plethora of very special gift tags.  Check out what my "Not Crafty" friends made.  Didn't they do a great job?

Hosting duties prevented me from getting the best pictures, but you can tell that with a little encouragement they went to town and had a blast.  I did not make any myself, opting to provide asstance and guidance for my guests and this worked out really well.   It helped keep things relaxing for everyone.