• Aluminum Handmade Gift Tag Tutorial

    {Aluminum handmade gift tags make for a striking gift presentation.} Hernán and I are celebrating our second anniversary on Monday, though when people ask how long we’ve been together, we usually say it’s been four years. Why? Because for the two years before we started dating, we were “dating and didn’t know it”, according toContinue…

    Aluminum Gift Tag Tutorial | The Postman's Knock by Lindsey Bugbee

    {Aluminum handmade gift tags make for a striking gift presentation.}

    Hernán and I are celebrating our second anniversary on Monday, though when people ask how long we’ve been together, we usually say it’s been four years. Why? Because for the two years before we started dating, we were “dating and didn’t know it”, according to friends. Hernán was my best friend in college; we were attached at the hip. We went grocery shopping together, did laundry together, went to parties together … basically, you rarely saw one of us without the other. So, when we graduated, we realized we wanted to continue doing all those things together — plus we kinda liked each other (everyone else seemed to know this, it just took a long time for us to actually figure it out).

    Hernán + Lindsey | The Postman's Knock by Lindsey Bugbee

    The last two years have been really enriching as we have forged a new life in Boulder, traveled to Peru for three weeks, ravaged all the restaurants we could in a 30 mile radius, and created The Postman’s Knock! He’s the guy behind the scenes, my personal “web developer”. So thank goodness for Hernán, or even this blog post wouldn’t be possible.

    This anniversary, I wanted to let Hernán know how much I care, so I arranged a small gift (which I can’t reveal since it’s not Monday yet) and a sweet card. I wanted a creative handmade gift tag to go with my creative gift. Inspired by Eco Craft by Susan Wasinger, a book I picked up at the library a week ago, I modified Susan’s tutorial for aluminum ornaments to suit my needs to be a gift tag.

    Start with an aluminum can…

    Aluminum Gift Tag Tutorial | The Postman's Knock by Lindsey Bugbee

    Then cut off the top and the bottom (with regular craft scissors) to create an aluminum sheet. I used a thumb tack to punch an initial hole in the can, then I wedged my scissors in the hole and went to town.

    Aluminum Gift Tag Tutorial | The Postman's Knock by Lindsey Bugbee

    You should end up with something that looks like this:

    Alumninum Gift Tag Tutorial | The Postman's Knock by Lindsey Bugbee

    Next, you’ll want to straighten out the aluminum as best you can, and trace around a business card on the side that isn’t silver. Cut out what you traced. Then trace around the business card on the remaining aluminum, but this time cut it out about 1/8″ of an inch smaller than what the template is.

    Aluminum Gift Tag Tutorial | The Postman's Knock by Lindsey Bugbee

    Now you’ll have a larger rectangle of aluminum and a smaller rectangle of aluminum. Cut the corners off the larger square of aluminum (I didn’t do this in the photo below, but trust me — it will make things easier); then place the smaller square, silver side up, against the back of the larger square. Fold the edges of the larger square over the edges of the smaller square, like so:

    Aluminum Gift Tag Tutorial | The Postman's Knock by Lindsey Bugbee

    Here is what you’ll end up with! Your blank canvas aluminum rectangle soon-to-be handmade gift tag:

    Aluminum Gift Tag Tutorial | The Postman's Knock by Lindsey Bugbee

    Now grab a thumb tack and get to punching! I would advise lightly scratching your design in the aluminum with the thumb tack point, and then punching holes over the design.

    Aluminum Gift Tag Tutorial | The Postman's Knock by Lindsey Bugbee

    Here’s what you’ll end up with! A shiny, unique handmade gift tag that says: “I spent fifteen minutes crafting this tag so just imagine how great your gift must be.” I used a regular hole punch to punch a hole in the top of the tag in order to string jute twine through it.

    Aluminum Handmade Gift Tag | The Postman's Knock by Lindsey Bugbee

    In retrospect, the pad of my thumb could have been saved some pain by using simple aluminum foil to create a similar handmade gift tag. However, you can’t beat the sturdiness or smooth, non-wrinkled surface of an aluminum can. This tag can do double duty as a sweet window ornament, or come holiday season, an ornament for your recipient’s tree.

    I hope you enjoyed this tutorial; please feel free to look through my other blog posts for ideas as well! Remember that we are conducting a giveaway, and all subscribers to my blog are eligible to win the print of his or her choice (you pick: 8″x10″ or 11″x14″). A winner will randomly be selected on April 15th. I’d love for you to join me as I blog about craft tutorials, designs, and pretty things in general; so if you’re not subscribed, please join The Postman’s Knock family!