Our Holiday Gifting Traditions{Free Holiday Gift Tag Printables}

I thought I was so on top of things this Christmas.  I had my tree up earlier than ever before and got a jump start on my shopping.  So, how is it now LESS THAN A WEEK before Christmas and I am just starting to wrap our gifts?!  Gah!  I wrapped into the wee hours of the morning last night -- with the cutest wrapping paper ever, bt-dubs -- and then I realized I didn't have gift tags.

Now, for most people this wouldn't really be an issue.  For my husband it wouldn't even be a consideration.  Give him pile of old Target bags and a Sharpie and he'd be good to go.  But wrapping presents is somewhat of an obsession of mine.  I look forward to this all year.  I plan months in advance.  I have a Packaging Perfection board on Pinterest.  I had scoured the internet to find awesome wrapping paper {white with black polka dots} and affordable red satin ribbon {50 yards for $10!} since I like to use "real" ribbon.  How had I forgotten the tags?!

I really wanted to keep the chalkboard theme I had started with our newest ornaments and Christmas card so I sat down and drew up some designs.  I followed the same process I talked about with our Christmas card design, scanning the drawings into the computer and turning them into "chalk art".  Before I show you the finished product, I have to explain our gift-giving tradition.   

Every year we give our kids four gifts -- something they want, something they need, something to wear, and something to read.  We set a total dollar amount based on our situation at the time and divide that total between the four gifts for each child.  That way everything is completely fair {a big deal in our house} and the dad and I don't over-buy.  We also try to get creative within each category.  For instance, something to read isn't always a book.  Sometimes it's a game or an educational toy that requires a fair amount of reading to play.  And something to wear could be cologne/perfume or jewelry instead of the obvious clothing.  It's been super fun to try and trick our kids and they love trying to guess what each one is.  I love it!!

So, with that tradition in mind, here are the tags I designed:

There are some blank labels, too, for the other gifts that we give to other family members and friends.  I made the image files into pdf's so I could have them color printed at Staples on cardstock for less than a dollar a sheet. {Download the pdf's here.}That way I won't use up $15 worth of printer ink printing them at home and they'll be better quality. You could probably have them printed in black and white, but I knew for sure that color would give me great image quality and it wasn't super expensive so I went with that. Then I'll just use a white gel ink pen to add the To and From in the blank section of each tag. 

Not bad for a last minute, super speedy project, huh?  They should be ready to pick up this afternoon.  I'll show some pictures of this year's gift wrap once I have them all finished.  I've also got those yummy Christmas treats in the works still.  Tomorrow.  Maybe.  Have a great day!!