Easy Washi Tape Cards or Tags

Here is an easy last minute card or gift tag idea that helps bust your stash of decorative tapes and paper scraps, and diverts old book pages from the landfill.

The use of classic holiday ornament shapes, allows you to successfully use non-holiday papers and tapes to create lovely Christmas cards.

In my case, I have a weakness for packs of washi paper and tape from our local Daiso store (Japanese $1.50 store) and am much more likely to have that in my stash than traditional Christmas papers and tapes. While occasion specific papers are tons of fun, sometimes it's nice to use what we already have.

This project uses upcycled vintage book pages from an old Reader's Digest. I should start by recommending that you make sure the text on the pages you are using is appropriate for a Christmas card or gift tag. I goofed, and used pages from a book about a war or spies or something. Sigh.

Once you are certain the pages you are using are appropriate for the project (old sheet music would work well), you will fold the page in half, vertically, as shown above. Crease only the center of the fold, leaving the top and bottom of the page "softly folded".

For the next step, you will need to cut out an ornament shape from the folded paper (this is the same concept as cutting out a heart from a folded paper -- you only have to cut out half the shape from your folded paper to create a perfectly symmetrical shape). You can freehand cut, or you can lightly sketch the shape, then cut. When you open your page, you will see that you have created a "window" and an ornament shape.

Trace the shape onto a second piece of paper. I used another book page for this.

Now, add strips of decorative paper or tape to cover the sketched shape, being sure to overlap the edges of the shape completely.

Now you can stack the paper with the "window" over the paper with the decorative paper strips and secure with the adhesive of your choice. Mat the page with card stock, or adhere to a card front (or both).

I punched holes in some of mine, at the top of the ornament, and tied some gold cord into a little bow.

Experiment with inking or glittering the edges, if you like -- or leave it as is.

In no time at all you will have several beautiful cards and gift tags, ready for holiday gifting!

If you make tags using this technique, you can adhere gift cards to the back and hang on your Christmas tree.

You may also like this tutorial for making a pretty Christmas banner.

Here is an easy ornament hanger tutorial you may love.

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Thanks so much for stopping by!
Amanda