Looking for a fun craft that you could work on during tiny pockets of time, or do with a bunch of kids or friends? How about something that can be used in so many ways and be easily stored to be pulled out when needed. Love art journaling and the idea of putting things in pockets within an art journal? Friends, mixed media watercolor collage gift tags are THE thing, trust me! I started making the tags I'm sharing here last week, and have already made so many more, as they are not only fun, but a great way to use up watercolor art that doesn't quite cross the finish line for whatever reason. Of course an artful gift tag will bring any bottle of wine or gift to the next level as far as the personal touch, though I'm also planning on using these tags as place card holders, holiday garland elements and more. Add a work or a small message to the front, or write on the back, you decide, in any case, this is a winning craft that you can enjoy year round and for a special occassion, or just because! Lets do it!
- watercolor paper
- watercolors and pointed tip watercolor brushes
- a black thin pen that will write on top of your watercolor, like a Uniball AIR
- a white gel pen
- a hole punch and a small ruler
- glue/matte medium/decoupage medium
- ribbon or t-shirt yarn or twine
How To:
- Cut paper to the tag size of your choice, cut off corners of top (or dedice on a fancier shape if you wish) and then punch a hole in the middle top.
- Cover the background in either a wash of color, or blotches that look somewhat like clouds. You can first wet the whole tag and then drop color into the wet pools, which can also result in some lovely pattern.
- Use watercolor collage elements that you cut out of a painting that didn't quite make it, or create some pieces to use as collage, such as flowers and leaves etc, and of course a kite!
- Once tags are dry, play around with placement of elements on the tag and affix with glue or matte medium or decoupage medium.
- If you like, define elements with a fine black pen, and draw a border around the tag.
- Add your string, and voila, a wonderful artful tag is born, now go make more!
Above: Some examples of how to create a background
The finished tags are truly so much fun, and make a bunch so they'll be less precious and you won't have a problem gifting them to others! There are so many places one could hang tags like these with little messages and such, so have fun with it!
