A simple, creative way to add a little personal touch to your gifts this holiday season.

Each year I look forward to finding new ways to wrap gifts for the holidays. I’ll admit, I often get more excited about how they look on the outside than what they’re hiding on the inside.

This year I decided to throw a little extra creativity into the mix by making my own clay gift tags. I know what you’re thinking: I hardly have time to get wrapping paper on my gifts let alone make custom tags for them. Well, you’ll be very pleasantly surprised when I tell you these tags are very affordable AND take less than one hour to make (excluding drying time)!

If custom gift tags aren’t your thing, no worries, these can easily be made into ornaments or even a fun holiday garland! So, invite a few girlfriends over or even grab your kids (or grandkids), throw on some Christmas tunes, pour a glass of wine and spend some quality time getting creative for the holidays!

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Air dry clay. (I used the DAS brand, but there are a number of other brands that work just as well that can be found at WalMart, Target or Hobby Lobby. Just make sure it’s air dry, not oven baked clay).

• a rolling pin

• a pen lid or small straw for poking a hole for the ribbon

• mini cookie cutters

• alphabet stamps or a fine tip permanent marker

Supplies for wrapping:

• ribbon or twine

• wrapping paper

• faux (or real) accent greenery

The steps:

1. Roll out a small amount of clay to approx. 1/8 inch thickness on a smooth surface.

2. Cut out the desired shapes using cookie cutters but make sure to space them out a bit. If they’re too close they’ll be difficult to separate.

3. Use a small pen tip or straw to punch a hole for the ribbon in the top of each shape.

4. Smooth the edges of each shape for a more finished look.

5. If you choose to stamp your tags, press each letter gently into the clay while it’s still wet. This step will most likely need a little practice, so you might make a few extra tags just in case.

6. Let tags air dry for at least 24 hrs.

7. Once dry. take a toothpick and clear the ribbon hole of any clay debris.

8. Thread with your favorite ribbon or twine, tie them on your gifts and let the giving begin!!

I picked up my supplies for this project at Hobby Lobby. Direct links below.

• polka-dot wrapping paper

• roll of jute twine

• DAS air dry clay

• mini alphabet rubber stamps

I hope this blog gives you some creative gift wrapping inspiration. And, I sincerely hope you have a fabulous holiday and healthy, happy new year!

Cheers,