Monday, January 17, 2011

Easy Valentine Tag Tutorials

 
I spent the afternoon crafting with my daughter Kara and her friend, Sydney. These are two talented girls who know their way around the studio already.  Before I made it home from work at noon, they had already been busy making brown paper bag books.  So, I asked them if they'd like to use the sewing machine.  Here's what you'll need to follow along:  shipping tag, book page, old lace/fabric, small Valentine image, ribbon and buttons.  
Measure and cut your book page (I used dictionary page) to cover almost entire shipping tag. If you cut it too large, just turn over and trim with scissors. Now is a good time to distress the edges with an ink pad or sponge if that's your plan. Use brown, red, black...whatever you like.
Next cut some lace trim about 1/4 to 1/2 wider on each side than the shipping tag. This will make it easier, in my opinion, to sew and allows for any shifting of the material. I like things perfectly "imperfect" so I am fine if my material shifts a bit and if my sewing lines are not straight.  When done machine or hand sewing, trim the edges. On these tags I flipped over and trimmed to the size of the tag. Sometimes a little extra lace hanging over the tag is fun too. I went ahead and added some crinkled seam binding to the top as well at this point.
Time to add layers. I cut a piece of plain batting with some pinking shears. I then found some red lace and machine sewed the layers together. Hand sewing or embroidery stitches would be fine too.  Notice I left the strings for a shabby feel.
The only thing left to do was to add some buttons and  this adorable piece of German paper scrap that I purchased from Julie Collings Etsy shop.  Julie is also responsible for the most adorable crinkled seam binding you've ever seen...
I know you can't take it and you are headed to her shop now. You probably won't even read the rest of this post. Note to self...don't give them links until the end next time. So, that is one tag down with easy instructions. Just takes a few minutes to make an assembly line of materials and create several.  But, we weren't done! The girls were having fun using the sewing machine and had requested to do some hand sewing too.  So, I came up with another tag for them to watch me make then copy -
This tag starts with the same base - a shipping tag (I distressed mine this time) with a vintage book page adhered with glue.  I picked red lace this time and machine sewed on, making two runs around the lace with black thread. Notice it is far from perfect. I like that!  We then cut a heart from cotton batting and sewed it to the tag using a red heart button and black embroidery thread.  A cotton hanky was torn into small pieces and stamped with "xoxo.". This small piece was sewn on by hand using black embroidery floss which is nice and thick. That's my tag above but wait until you see Kara and Sydney's with their own spin.
They both like things grungy and distressed. I wonder where they get that from? lol  Today though, they certainly did more distressing then me. I think theirs turned out even better than mine! I love how prim they look.  Here they are busy working in the studio.
It was nice to make a mess in there! It has looked way to neat and organized. I was long overdue for a project day. So, go make some tags for teachers, your hubby, your girlfriends and tie them on to a bag of favorite candy or homemade treats.  Thanks for stopping by during your busy day. Remember that I love your comments and follows.  I hope to see you again soon! Linking this post to:


33 comments:

  1. Loved the Valentines craft. Thanx for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Those are fun! I bet the girls really enjoyed them too.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Aww, this is TOO precious!!!! And I love everybody's tags!!!
    XO
    P.S. I can tell that everyone's lovin' this new room!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Aw ..how fun was that creating tags with the girls ..I used to create with my nieces but they are all grown up now ..

    Love the valentines ..you all did a fabulous job ..

    blessings ..Sara

    ReplyDelete
  5. These are darling...I bet the girls had a ball. Soon you will be giving craft lessons in your studio!!

    XO,
    Jane

    ReplyDelete
  6. the girls did a great job on these Valentine tags!!! I really loved the paper bag books too, they are very crafty just like their Mommies!:) ♥

    ReplyDelete
  7. These are beautiful! I love using vintage images and distressing things too - fun! Double fun when you get to do it with someone else!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Love those tags and those girls are crafty!! Love the tutorial!

    ReplyDelete
  9. What cute tags! I love all the layers and textures. Looks like they had a lot of fun with them. Maybe one day I'll have a granddaughter that will like to sew and craft with me! I miss that.

    ReplyDelete
  10. adorabel tags...even cuter little gals! TFS! :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oh this is so adorable !!! I want to make one !!
    XO

    ReplyDelete
  12. I knew you were busting at the seams to get going in that new craft room. And you made such a cute project! So did those girls. Good to teach them these things, and good that they actually want to learn.
    Brenda

    ReplyDelete
  13. Can I come to your house and craft in your studio? :o)

    Kara and Sydney's creations are beautiful. La

    ReplyDelete
  14. What a great idea and they are so cute! So glad that you had a craft day, I bet you all had fun! :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. cute! Thanks for the tute.
    blessings
    barbara jean

    ReplyDelete
  16. What great tags you made. My favorites are the grungy distressed ones too. What does it say about us when we like the grungier the better? Thanks for linking up. The photos look great.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Cute valentines and what a great way for two young girls to spend time. Happy REDnesday! ~ Sarah

    ReplyDelete
  18. These tags are adorable, Vicki! Thanks for the tutorial! Looks like you had a great time together!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Those tags are just great and what a fun project! I also love how the photography came out with the white background. I played around with it myself!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hi Vicki!
    I love this post! So charming! I love that you shared the girls Valentine's, so much fun. And I adore Julie Collings, isn't she and her blog wonderful?!

    Happy Rednesday,
    Sally

    ReplyDelete
  21. I like easy projects, and these looked like something that even I could do! The girls did a great job, and I always like to see young people interested in crafts. I think every girl should be armed with a glue gun at a very young age!
    Happy REDnesday!
    Carol

    ReplyDelete
  22. How sweet! I love that little cupid mailman! Is he au naturale?
    What a great project to do with my niece, she'll love it.
    Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  23. These are gorgeous! Love the girls' grungy tags!
    Such a fun day! Thanks for sharing!
    Have a great week!
    ~ Julie

    ReplyDelete
  24. Just found your blog and it's gorgeous! Love the distressed look of the tags!

    ReplyDelete
  25. I love that the girls are learning to use the sewing machine and using their imaginations. Great tags. Thanks for following my blog and I'm gladly following you back.

    ReplyDelete
  26. What sweet tags! You girls ALL did a great job! I love that Kara and Syd are such artists!

    ReplyDelete
  27. That's it. I'm in love. Your blog is fabulous :)

    ReplyDelete
  28. These are fabulous, so pretty!
    Thanks for sharing with us!
    XO

    ReplyDelete
  29. FUN!!! I thought the girls would be much older-they did a fabulous job on their tags!!
    xo
    lynn

    ReplyDelete
  30. Thank you for stopping by my blog! I love yours and I am happy to be following you too. All of your Valentine tags are adorable! I want to make some :)

    ReplyDelete
  31. What beautiful tags...you and the girls did a great job on these...thanks for the tutorial too :)

    ReplyDelete