I used a piece of fabric 6 1/2 inches by 21 inches, but it can be made any size!

Turn each end under  1/4 inch and stitch along the edge.

With right sides together stitch sides together using a 1/2 inch seam, stopping two inches from the top.

Pink  edges and press side seams open.  At the top where the side seam is open, stitch around  the opening on each side.

Fold top edge down 1 inch and stitch all the way around close to the bottom edge.

Cut two pieces of ribbon or cording about 22" long each. Feed one piece through casing and back out the other casing coming out on the same side of the bag.

Repeat with second cord on opposite side.

Tie the string ends on each side together. (You can hind the knots in the casing part if you work at it)

Fill the bag with some goodies and you have a nice little treat!

Print these on sticker paper and you have a whole page of cute labels from Fresh Picked Whimsy

Festive gift tags from Orange You Lucky

Erin Vale has created these holders perfect for gift cards.

I love the labels that wrap around a card like these from Kellie at Scraplog

or these from Miss B shared by Creature Comforts

and these from Up Up, the Blog

Benign Objects shares a set of printables; cd holder, labels in all sizes, labels for jars and a pillow box

Cottage Industrialist has some patterned cards with nifty envelopes

If you have some last minute mailing to do, Make Do & Send has made mailing labels.

From On A Limb printables that could be made into stickers or tags

More free holiday labels and tags found here and here.

Sweet Jessie has some Vintage Gift Tags

The illustrator Tricia Rennea shares some darling mittens.

Designer Bari J. shares hercute tags via Inspire Co.(a wonderful site)

Amy Butler Gift Tags would be a nice touch to a gift.

Little Paper Dog has drawn some fun tags.

Find more free gift tags and labels here.

Customize your own labels here.

My sister-in-law loves wrapping gifts so for her birthday I ordered an advance copy of the book, Wrapagami: The Art of Fabric Gift Wraps. I packaged the order slip like this with a Furoshiki cloth I made for her.

The book arrived and it is fabulous.

I think it is the best book I have seen on the subject.  The pictures are beautiful and the instructions and illustrations are easy to follow and understand!

There are so many styles I want to try!

Tips for making your own Furoshiki cloth

• The fabric cloths are usually square.  A standard size is 28" X 28". You will need a larger cloth for some techniques.
• Hem the edges of the fabric or simply cut with pinking shears to save time and keep the edges from un-raveling. I used the technique for making square corner cloth napkins to finish off my wrap.
• If you don't want to make your own cloth Jenn Playford has a line of cloths called Furochic.

How to use your Furoshiki Cloth

Download a handy Illustrated Furoshiki Guide from the Ministry of the Environment Government of Japan.

See Jenn, the author of Wrapagami, explain how to use Furoshiki.

The book is a must! Happy wrapping!

From Bucklette

Bucklette's gift tags can be downloaded here.  She has four charming sets so make sure you scroll thru her previous posts

I am loving these tags from Papercrave

Papercrave gift tags can be downloaded here

From Mushy

Mushy's printable labels can be downloaded here

From Sew Mama Sew a collection of tags perfect for you handmade goodies!

Sew Mama Sew gift tags can be downloaded here

From Yoonie at Home

Yoonie at Home free fancy gift tags can be downloaded here

more free gift tags from Yoonie at Home can be downloaded here

From Inside a Black Apple

Inside a Black Apple's free printable gift labels can be downloaded here

From Lollychops

Lollychops gift tags can be downloaded here

From A Fanciful Twist

Fanciful Twist gift labels can be downloaded here

From Delight.com

Gift labels from Delight.com can be downloaded here

From Grand Revival

Grand Revival gift labels can be downloaded here

From Martha Stewart

Martha Stewart gift labels can be downloaded here

From Angry Chicken

Really funny gift labels from Angry Chicken can be downloaded here

From The Little Window Shoppe

Little Window Shoppe gift labels can be downloaded here

You might also be interested in:

Gift Wrapping Ideas

Customizable Labels

Keep the kids busy with DIY Christmas Tags

When we gather for this guilty pleasure we have a few cocktails and appetizers! So I thought Frozen Tumbleweeds would be the perfect Christmas gift for these girls.

They are really simple to make and so delicious! The recipe is from my sister-in-law.

Frozen Tumbleweeds

1 5qt container of vanilla ice cream (softened)
2 1/2 cups coffee liqueur (Kahlua, I am on a budget so I used Kamora )
2 1/2 cups creme de cacao (Hiram Walker)
3 - half gallon buckets (I found these at Wal-Mart)

Mix all ingredient in a huge bowl. I used a hand held electric mixer. Fill the buckets and now you are ready to label.

I put a label on the top telling what is in the bucket and that it needs to be kept in the freezer and must be stirred before serving.

If you would like the labels I used you may download them.  I printed them on 1-up label paper I purchased in individual sheets from the copy store (Kinko's) and cut out on the gray line.

Tumbleweed Label Download

Then on the front I put a greeting from our family. I have made these labels so you can download them and then change the area that says who the gift is from. Click your cursor over that area and you should be able to customize the labels (I am crossing my fingers that this works)

Customizeable May your Holiday be Merry Label Download

Enjoy!

Looking for more homemade goodie ideas for gift giving try Homemade Caramel Corn!

My youngest son first made these gift tags in German kindergarten while we were living overseas. It has become a family tradition.  All you need is the plastic insert that holds the chocolates in one of the flat thin Advent calendars (We found ours at Aldi's), Plaster of Paris, a small disposable cup and plastic spoon for mixing the plaster, paint (any kind will work), paint brushes, glue (hot glue works best), copy paper, colored corrugated cardboard and yarn.

Mix plaster according to directions. You don't need much--about an 8 oz. cup half full. Fill each of the tiny molds in the Advent Calendar.  Tap the mold lightly to release any air bubbles. Let dry until hard in the molds, about 20 minutes.

Pop each figure out of the plastic and allow to dry another 20 minutes or longer. We re-use our molds year after year.  IF YOU HAVE LEFT OVER PLASTER DO NOT POUR IT DOWN YOUR DRAIN, JUST THROW THE CUP AND LEFTOVERS IN THE TRASH.

Paint each of the plaster figures.  I have found this is one of those great project you can leave out and the kids will work on over time!

We fold colored corrugated cardboard into a book shape, place a piece of copy paper cut slightly smaller than the cardboard inside and then fasten with a piece of yarn.

Glue your plaster shape to the front and you have a really cute gift tag!

Download this template and print on patterned card stock.  Cut on solid lines then lightly score on dotted lines to make a pillow box. These boxes are great when you are in a pinch and need something quick.

Cool fabric baskets

fun cereal gift boxes

These darling printed cone boxes double as ornaments for your tree

Recycled greeting card box

Classy gift box ---actually made from a recycled cereal box

A little girl or your girlfriends would love something special package in this cute purse box

boxes made from inside out cereal boxes

Wouldn't these cute Elf Shoes make a cute container for a small gift?

...and so that all of your handmade gifts are tied up with the prettiest tags, Cassi of Bella Dia has made it easy with the Free Gift Tag Round-Up!

Some of my favorite gift tags are from Sugarloop

You might also be interested in using these for your holiday packaging:

Oil Cloth Bags

Oven Mitt

Santa Bottle Bag

How to make a Bottle Gift Bag

• Cut two pieces of felt 6 X 16 1/2 inches (you can make it shorter but I wanted it long enough to cover my bottle stoppers
• One piece of fur trim 17" long

Stitch fur to front of one piece of felt. It was easier if I stitched in the same direction (fur laying down) down on both sides.

Stitch the two pieces of felt right sides together, leaving the top open

Sew across bottom corner 1 inch from the edge

Repeat on other side

Turn right side out. Tie with a black ribbon.  I think I might have fastened ribbon with a belt buckle if I had had one. I also wanted to put some silver jingle bells on the ends of the ribbon. I am still considering adding the felt fur along the top of the bag.

Ho Ho Ho!