“Some gifts are big, others are small, but the ones that come from the heart are the best gifts of all.”
— Tinku Razoria
If you are familiar with the 5 love languages, you know that one of them is gifts. For me personally, this one is second only to quality time, therefore right at the top of my list. When reading about this topic years ago, I discovered that the importance of a gift is less to do with the material item itself, and more to do with the love, thoughtfulness, and effort behind the gift. A great gift shows that one is known, and cared for - it’s a visual representation of love shared. This is something that resonates with me greatly. When I reflect, my favourite gifts from my husband have always been ones that he has put thought into, or has went to a lot of effort to make happen, in order to show me that he knows my heart. And for myself, though of course it’s not possible all of the time, I always feel good about giving someone a gift that I have really thought about for them - that perhaps I have remembered something about them and what they enjoy, and have tried to be mindful about who they are as a person when finding them a gift. There is excitement in the anticipation of a loved one’s joy in receiving something you have thoughtfully chosen for them.
Beyond all of this, though, with whatever the gift - whether big or small like the quote above says, or whether carefully chosen or more of a last minute guess (because let’s be real, that happens too) - I love putting my hands to wrapping presents in a manner that shows care externally as well. When I get to sitting down and wrapping up a gift for someone, it is one of my favourite activities. For some reason, I find no matter what else is going on in my week or how much else I have to do, I never seem to feel as though it’s a chore that I just need to get done. I truly enjoy it.
There are times in the past I have done more elaborate gift wrapping, with many layers of different ribbons, greenery or faux picks, sparkles, etc., however I believe that making a gift look nice is something that can be done in a very simple manner, and this is the approach I often use to this day. If you choose a colour for your foundation, or a couple types of paper that have similar colours that work together, and then use ribbon that accents that colour scheme well, it can be as easy as just the paper and a bow. Though I also find that a lovely way to add a finishing touch is a nice gift tag.
This year, I wanted to try my hand at creating my own gift tags to use on my parcels, and upon completion I liked them enough that I thought I would share them with you!
Because of my neutral colour scheme this season, and so that they work well with most people’s gifts, I made the tags white with charcoal text and images - nice and simple.
I printed these onto some matte photo paper so they would have a bit more lustre than regular printer paper, and then affixed them to some thicker construction-type paper I had on hand, to give them more structure, with double stick tape ( I would have used a glue stick, but didn’t have one, haha). After that, I simply cut them out along the lines, and then used a 1/8 hole punch to punch the hole for my string. You can definitely use a regular sized hole punch, and that would probably be needed if you’re putting ribbon through, but because I was doing them this way I wanted a bit of a smaller hole. Even though this whole process only took me a few minutes (super quick), if you have more printing options around you, you can always have them printed onto some card-stock to make it even easier! I didn’t have that option available, so I just did what I could. If you don’t care to have them thicker like pictured, you honestly don’t even have to affix them to any additional paper, and could just print them onto regular paper if you want, and then cut them out and be done! I hope me walking you through what I did shows that you can make nice gift tags very quickly and simply. The download for these gift tags for your own use is below.
“The manner of giving is worth more than the gift.”
-Pierre Corneille
I hope you enjoy these gift tags. Let me know in the comments if you use them for your wrapping this year, and feel free to send me a photo over on Instagram if so - I would love to see!
Though the reason for the season is not just about gift exchanges, I do find joy in presenting beautifully wrapped parcels to my family members and watching with excitement as they open them up.
This holiday season, as always, I hope to spend as much time as possible with my husband, family and friends. As much as I do love giving gifts at Christmas and setting up my house all pretty and festive, for us the season is really about the gift of Jesus Christ, and being grateful for all He has given to us. His yolk is easy and His burden is light, and wherever you are at this holiday season, I pray that truth finds you and brings you peace.
I am praying that everyone has the most wonderful Christmas and holiday season, that you have time to reflect on what you love about your life, and give thanks for those things.
Merry Christmas, and thanks for stopping by,
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