"" sewing tutorial | KIDS | crafts | handmade gifts | bread bags | fort kits | diy hang tags | saltwater-kids

10.08.2008

TUTORIAL: make your own (free) hangtags

Tutorial 
Using FREE online photo editing from Picnik & FREE prints from my local Walgreens (when I signed up for a photo account) I was able to make new hang tags for my Etsy Shop items for, you guessed it, FREE!!
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Printed 1


This tutorial was written using hang tags as the subject, but really the possibilities are endless... gift tags, scavenger hunt cards, festive garlands, you name it!
First off, I would like to say that I am sure there are a million ways to do this (some probably much easier) but this is just how I did it.  I would love to hear your suggestions and ideas!

OK, lets get started...
Tip: you can click on any of the images to enlarge

First, go to Picnik.com and upload a photo (any photo will work) that is at least 600x800 pixels.


When the picture has been uploaded, it will open in the "edit" tab, like the one above of my youngest son.
Next, Click on the "create" tab.  UPDATE: All of these features are now located under the "Edit" tab.

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Once the "create" tab is open, click on the button that says "stickers."
Then, scroll down, and click on "basic shapes."
Select the square (#1 above), and then select a color (#2 above) (you can always change it again later).  For the purpose of demonstration, I went with gray.


Ss 4a gray

Resize the (gray) square by clicking and dragging until the entire photo is covered.



Now, we are going to crop our photo to the correct size.  Click on the "edit" tab and then click the "crop" button. 

EDITED: Crop the image to 4X6 from the drop-down menu (not 600x800, like in the image above).  I like to make the image at least 800 pixels on the long side.


And now the fun part - designing the tags! 
I decided to make 3 rectangular tags per page, so I clicked back to the "create" tab and then scrolled down the "stickers" until I found the "basic shapes" again (#1 above). 
Once I created the size of rectangle I liked, I right clicked on it and duplicated it (#2 above) so my tags would all be the same size. 
TIP: make sure you leave a border all the way around the outside, so that none of the tags get cut off when printed (I found this out the hard way). 
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As you can see, I went ahead and added more elements to the tags...  I added a second square inside the first to create a white border.  And then selected the colors I liked (shown above).



Then I edited the text (shown above) found under the "text" button.
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And finally, I added a few graphic elements found by clicking the "stickers" button (shown above).



When you are satisfied, click the "save and share" tab and then click "Save Photo."
Now the only thing left to do is PRINT!
Many of you probably have nice photo printers at home that would provide a more convenient alternative to driving to pick up photos, if so, feel free to skip the next step.  But if you are like me, and the thought of paying for a printer cartridge sends your blood pressure sky-hi, then a short jaunt to the photo shop might not be so bad after all!




For all of you with a printer-cartridge phobia, go to Walgreens.com (if they are in your area) and sign up for a photo account (so you can get your 25 free photos). 
Then upload your hang tag image and select "order prints" (it might be best to only print one the first time, as a test print, in case you need to do some additional editing)  My 4x6 photos were ready to pick up in 45 minutes.
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Gather your supplies: scissors, hole punch, and string/ribbon.





Printed 4


cut them out,

punch the holes,


and string them up!  I used my trusty twin, but some colorful ribbon would be extra cute!
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 the finished "tutorial tags" and pink hang tags designed for a cowgirl costume from my Etsy shop
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the original tags I made for the Cowboy Costume in my shop.

I hope this TUTORIAL was helpful, I would love to hear your feedback!
thanks for visiting - come again!
 
  
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Update: here are other hang tags I have made using the same technique.
    
Gifts for Kids:



 
Valentine's Day Gifts:

 





 
 Teacher Gifts:

 








































35 comments:

  1. this is one of those things that make me say, "why didn't I think of that?" brilliant. Thanks for putting this together!

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  2. Thanks Jessica!  I felt so silly that I hadn't thought of it sooner... I don't want to think of the time and money I wasted before - YIKES!
    Emily

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  3. Oh goodness, this is perfect for Christmas gift tags too, plus a little personalization for my creations. Thank you for sharing!

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  4. Christmas gift tags - excellent idea! Thanks Lindsey.

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  5. Mary Ann in VermontAugust 9, 2010 at 9:48 PM

    You are amazing! I cannot thank you enough for your sweet kindness in sharing this with us! How wonderful it is for all of us to meet people like you through this blogging world! Thanks again and again and over and over again!

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  6. Mary Ann, thank you for taking the time to write such a nice comment, I truly appreciate it!  I cant tell you how much it brightens my day.  I am so happy that you enjoyed the hat tag tutorial, it was fun to make.
    Thanks again,
    Emily

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  7. Oh my goodness. What an awesome idea! They are sooo cute! Thanks for sharing.

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  8. you're so clever. Been bugging DH to design some tags for me (for gift giving) and now I don't have to. I think I should be able to do this myself :) Many thanks for this tutorial.

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  9. This is so awesome! Brilliant. Will have to try this out soon. Thanks so much for sharing :)

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  10. Brilliant! Thank you for sharing this!

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  11. Everyone else is right...this is brilliant! Thank you so much for sharing - although I've made mine differently, I love this. I'm switching over to your method today. :)

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  12. What a great idea. In fact, I had to create tags for items for a cake stall soon after reading it - this was the result:
    http://madebybronwyn.blogspot.com/2010/08/biscuits-for-greenwich-public-school.html
    Thanks for the inspiration!

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  13. omgoodness i just made a butt load following your tutorial thank you so much for showing us how to do this...

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  14. Oh good! I am so happy that you found it to be useful.  Thanks Amanda!

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  15. This is genius - thank you SO very much for sharing! I just found your blog and absolutely love it. Well done! :)

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  16. I am seriously technologically challenged and I just made these - so easy!!! Thanks for this great tutorial!!!

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  17. This is so amazing! Thank you for sharing!
    Smiles...

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  18. Looks great! One question. Did you print them glossy or matte?

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  19. Hi Susan,
    These game cards are glossy. I wanted to try the matte prints, but they didnt offer in-store pickup.

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  20. omgoodness i just made a butt load following your tutorial thank you so much for showing us how to do this...

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  21. Thank you for this easy to follow tutorial...it was just what I needed to finish off some gifts for Christmas.

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  22. Totally loving this idea!!! :) Thank you so much for sharing!
    I will blog about it and link back.

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  23. Beautiful, and such clear instructions. Thanks for this.

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  24. I am SO excited about this! Thanks for sharing! I'm thinking I may blog about it and link back to your instructions. :) So many possibilities!

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  25. These are brilliant! Thanks for sharing :)

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  26. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  27. Marisa, thanks for the heads-up about the "create" tab. Picnik has rearranged things a bit, and all of the features that I referenced above are now located under the "edit" tab. (I have updated the post to reflect the changes)

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  28. Just linked to your blog from Mel Stampz...I guess I must have missed this one...I am now following your blog! Thank you for the tutorial!

    Hope you take a peek at my blog soon (-;

    Michelle
    The 3AM Teacher
    http://the3amteacher.blogspot.com/

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  29. Oh my gosh! Thank you so much for this tutorial! I just ordered 50 hang tags and I'm picking them up at a local store! Completely free!! Amazing!!

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  30. Picnik is no longer available :( I'm trying this with a few different programs to see which will work. Brilliant idea though, I laughed at how easy it was, can't believe I'd never thought of it!

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  31. This is such a great idea!! Thank you so much for sharing! Do you leave the back blank/empty? What do you suggest for the backside? Thanks so much!

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