Instead of making DIY gift tags with my Cricut this year, I decided it would be fun to make small gift cards with pictures of the family and friends on the tags! Last year, two-year-old Memphis wanted to pass out the presents but Sophie had to read the tags for her. This year, she will just have to recognize who is on the picture on the tag!
Prepare Your Photos
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You can use whatever photo editing program you have, but you know, I love Picmonkey. It was easy to make these tags on Picmonkey. To begin with, choose the pictures you want to use, click on ‘Create New’ at the top of the page, a menu says “Edit an image from.” Click on “computer” and choose a picture from your file.
The first icon on the far left is Basic Edits. Click on the icon. It’s easy to use ‘Basic Edits’ to improve your pictures. First, click “Auto Adjust”. and then below Auto Adjust, click on “Exposure”. You can lighten or darken your photo here. There are lots of other options you can play around with, but for this little project, those should be sufficient.
You will notice that some of the photos I used have an old look to them. I clicked on the Magician’s wand icon on the left side of the screen. Scroll down until you see “Daguerreotype” and click on that. There are several different options. Play around with them! I love this look.
Click on “Crop” under basic edits. When the drop-down menu shows up, click on 5 x 7 – inches. Those are the dimensions for all of the pictures I used. Whatever size you choose, you will probably want your pictures uniform, too. Save each of the photos.
The final DIY tags I made are 2.5-inches x 2-inches. Eight of these cards fit on a regular piece of cardstock.
When you have your 5 x7 photos ready, then you need to make a template for the cards.
Template For The DIY Tags
At the bottom of the Picmonkey screen, you’ll see “Collage layouts and blank canvases,” click on 8 x 10. You can give your creation a name next. You will probably want the canvas white.
On the left side of the screen, click on the triangle, circle, and square, the Graphics icon. When the menu comes up, under the word Graphics, click on “Add Your Own” and then, “My Computer.” Now, choose one of the pictures you want to use.
When the picture comes up, grab the corner and reduce the size. Then, move the picture to the upper right corner and right-click, then, click on “duplicate graphic. ” Leaving a border, place the duplicate left of and close to the original. You can pull the edges of the 8 x 10 in to crop around the two pictures, leaving a nice border around and between the pictures. Click on the picture on the right, and then the left, and delete both the original and the duplicate.
Now, if you like, you can go to the “Frames” icon and choose a frame as simple or as ornate as you like. You can choose whatever color you like, too. It will be easier to cut around the cards if you have at least a thin frame.
Make Your Own Little Logo
There is a handy tool at the bottom of the screen, “Alignment.” I put a little Christmas Tree from the Christmas graphics on the back of the card. Click on the “Apple” and then, “Santa Land”. Scroll down to “Christmas Trees” and choose a tree, or choose whatever graphic you like. PicMonkey has a tutorial on How To Use Graphics, ◄click here.
Below the Christmas tree graphic, I added the text, “Created by Debra.” By using the alignment and grids tool at the bottom of the page, it was easy to center the tree and the type on what would be the backside of the card.
Now that you have the card set up as you like, you can save the card to a file by clicking on “export” at the top of the page.
Duplicate Your Card
Next, choose the 8 x 10 canvas again. Click on “Add Your Own” and from the menu click “My Computer”. Choose the card you just saved. Use the alignment tool to divide the canvas into 4 rows and 2 columns. Reduce the card to fit nicely into one of the 8 sections. When you have it as you like, duplicate the graphic and place in another of the 8 sections. Repeat until you have all the sections filled. Save this to your computer.
Then, click on the “triangle, circle, and square icon” again. On the menu, click on “Add Your Own” and from the menu, click “My Computer.” Choose one of the 5 x 7-inch pictures you edited earlier. Now, center this picture on the right side of the canvas, which will be the front of your card. Repeat for each picture.
Print, Trim, and Add String To The DIY Tags
When you finish, save to a file and print on cardstock.
Using an X-Acto knife and ruler or whatever cutting tool you like, cut the tags out, score in the middle, and fold.
Using a paper punch,
make a 1/8″ hole in the left corner. Remember proportion when choosing the string or thread and the hole size. A 1/4″ hole punch would make the hole way too big and goofy looking on these tiny cards! (We are an Amazon affiliate and may receive a small percentage of any sales through this link at no cost to you. Thanks for supporting this website!)
Add a string to the DIY tags and attach to your gifts. This gold thread looks perfect with the colors on the tree and the wrapped gifts this year.
Try Wrapping Your Gifts With These Japanese Styles 
Remember the Japanese style gift wrap posts from earlier this year? I’m beginning to wrap all the gifts using those techniques! Once you use the technique a couple of times, you can add your own take on it and create a unique look.
I love it! Imagine the ‘oohs and awws’ you’ll get with these beautifully wrapped gifts and these personalized DIY tags with your family and friend’s pictures!
Happy wrapping!
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