Make your own gift tags

Hello Friends
I found this great article at ecosalon.com about making your own gift tags, I will definitely be trying some of these for xmas this year

This year, put as much love into labeling your gift as you did buying it. 

Gift tags are one of those things we think about after wrapping a gift and we generally whip up with some leftover wrapping paper, scribbling something uninspiring on it. That, or we run out and buy the first stack of snowman labels we can get our hands on at the eleventh hour.

This year, vow to be a better gift giver by putting as much love into your labeling as you do into your shopping. Here are some simple ways to add some personality to your gift and amaze your loved ones with your DIY prowess.

When you’re at the Christmas tree lot, pick up the leftover slices from the trunks and paint them using poster or acrylic paint. While you’re at it, grab all you can: they work just as well for birthdays, too. Drill a hole into it for the ribbon and use a sharpie on the back for the “to” and “from.”

Family and friends photo tags are a win win. Print out pictures of the people you love on the receiving end of your list and glue the images on shipping tags.

Go old school with your photos using embarrassing high school pictures and accidental shots of friends with their eyes closed.

 Tea stained tags are a little more work, but worth it. Brew up some strong tea with two or three tea bags. Throw your tags and tea in a shallow baking dish or plastic container and leave for a few hours. You can keep them overnight for a darker look. Pull them out to dry and start designing.

You can put just about anything on these and they look great. I chose old ornaments and glittery leaves from holiday decor.

Also try photocopied  illustrations from vintage books and wallpaper, like these found at the flea market for a song.

Finally stamp words on your gift tags with letter stamps from the craft store, the funkier the better. Even if your gift is received like a lump of coal, at the very least, it will look good.

Reprinted from:

Crocheted stones

Artist Margaret Oomen has wonderful creations that leave you speechless. These crocheted stones are gorgeous. She also has an Etsy Shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/knitalatte where you can purchase her crocheted stones (if you're quick enough since they go so quickly!) as well as beautiful still life photographs of her crocheted stones

Some words from Margaret Oomen

Currently I am using stones that have been made smooth by the constant energetic forces of nature. I have collected them during my travels and from the kind donations of wonderful people all over the world. I feel the ocean and sea stones connect us in ways difficult for us to fathom. I cover these stones using only repurposed vintage threads worked with vintage crochet hooks. I like the idea that these materials were forming lace patterns long before I used them in my own two hands to cover the stones. The crochet patterns are almost always inspired by things I have observed in nature: lichen, leaves, webs, frost patterns, and snowflakes, to name a few.  Fractal patterns, Fibonacci, and other mathematical sequences are more obvious with some of the crocheted stones than in others.  Most of my patterns are made up as I crochet along using the color, texture, and shape of the stone to guide me.  When I am not crocheting I am arranging my collections and photographing them in arrangements that emphasize their relationships to each other and the natural world

 

See more on Margerets blog http://www.resurrectionfern.typepad.com/   

Margeret Ooman's crocheted orb by day and by night, to see how this orb is made go here http://resurrectionfern.typepad.com/resurrection_fern/2008/07/crochet-a-spher.html