Click here to see a larger picture of the festive felt gift tags.
You need
• Scraps of stiff paper, such as watercolour paper, and lightweight card stock in white and desired colours
• Scraps of felt in desired colours
• Embroidery floss in desired colours
• Beads and small buttons
• Crewel needle
• Low-tack masking tape
• Pencil, set square, ruler and hole punch
• Double-sided tape or glue stick
• Cotton yarn, kitchen twine, raffia or ribbon scraps, for ties
• Coloured fine-tip marker or crayon
To make
1. From felt, cut simple shape. Thread needle with 3 strands of matching or contrasting embroidery floss.
2. Choose paper scrap for background that's at least 2.5 cm (1 in) bigger than felt shape on all edges; centre felt on front of paper. From back, poke needle up through paper and out through felt and gently pull almost all the way through, leaving 7.5 cm (3-in) "tail" at back; near edge of paper, temporarily anchor tail to back with small piece of masking tape.
3. Push needle back through paper, just outside edge of felt, to make first straight stitch. Repeat to continue sewing all around felt with straight stitches across edge. Peel off tape, then gently knot thread ends together at back to secure, and trim about 1 cm (3/8 in) from knot.
4. If desired, thread needle with 3 strands of contrasting colour floss, then "draw" lines or designs on felt with backstitches, anchoring and securing floss ends as in steps 2 and 3.
5. Thread needle with 3 strands of floss to match felt; sew on buttons and/or beads as desired, anchoring and securing floss ends as in steps 2 and 3.
6. With pencil, set square and ruler, draw desired background edge around sewn-on shape (not too close: you don't want to cut any thread or knots on back); cut out. With double-sided tape, stick background to larger scrap of contrasting colour paper, then trim edge of larger scrap to create border around background.
7. With hole punch, punch hole through tag where desired. From yarn, cut 28 cm (11-in) length and fold in half to form loop; push loop through hole, then thread yarn ends through loop and gently pull to tighten against tag.
8. With marker, write name or greeting on front of tag.
Caution! Kids, remember to keep supplies – such as needles, scissors, buttons and beads – out of the reach of your very young brothers and sisters.
Do you love crafts? Sign up for CanadianLiving.com's craft newsletter, Get Crafty.
Page 1 of 1
