Annual Printer Tray Project with Dawn

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Hi, friends! It’s Dawn McVey and it’s my turn to share a project for The Greetery blog and this one has become a tradition, not to mention my favorite project of the entire year! I look forward to it all year long! We’ve got a vintage printer’s drawer that I use as a tray that I fill with all sorts of gift tags and gift toppers and not only is the making of the items fun, and the filling of the tray fun, but also, the wrapping of the gifts is so fun, too, thanks to such a huge array of goodies to dress the packages up with! Somehow, all those little cubbies full of treats makes it sort of feel like I’m shopping at my own little store where everything is free and I can take and use whatever I want! HAHA! I love it!

With that being said, you might want to grab a cuppa and get cozy! I’ve got a lottttt of pictures to show you! I hope you enjoy…..!

To make all of these goodies, I used the Christmas Gallerie collection of stamps, dies, and embossing folders. It is SO MUCH FUN to just start creating with no real agenda other than a big old pile of pretties to top gifts with. None of it needs to be especially color coordinated, because I think you’ll find that once you get going and you already have certain colors out for one element, it’s easy to use them again on another element and before you know it, it’s all coordinated without you even trying too hard.

I began with all of the Bigger Holiday Botanicals dies and just had fun making several of each one. In some cases, I just made 3 or 4 that were exactly the same and in some cases, I changed up the leaf colors or the flower colors, just to add in some variety.

PRO TIP: Glitter makes everything feel more fancy and festive! And depending on the glitters you choose, it can also make things feel more vintage and nostalgic, which was totally what I went for! The best glitters to achieve this that I’ve found are antique metal colors. I’ve got some Martha Stewart ‘white gold’ and ‘smoky quartz’ that I’ve had forever, and you’ll see them used often on my leaves and such. I use a glue bottle with a fine tip, and just trace quickly along the vein lines on the leaves. I concentrated the glue and glitter more toward the center and bottom of the leaves. You don’t have to be super precise with this! Just a quick swipe with the glue, and the glitter will do the rest and make it look like a vintage Christmas card you just found at an antique shop!

I also used a white glitter in cases where I wanted a more snowy effect. And on some of the red berries, I even used a red glitter that I’ve had for more than a decade! Haha! Pull those glitters out and use them, my friends! It’s fun!

I die cut the embossed Shortbread Shapes: Snowflake and separated the star portions. I added glitter to those, simply tracing around some of the lines on the shape, and then I punched a hole in the top (they are the pink pretties tucked behind the poinsettias in the photo below). Those will serve as extra little sparkly trinkets to tie onto gifts along with a tag. If one tag or dangly item hanging from the bow is fun, more are even better!

I die cut quite a few of the new Capsule Christmas Gallerie Prints Cuttables and added various frames and bows and even added glitter to the snowy areas in the pictures. They look so pretty and nostalgic in real life!

I am also in LOVE with the new Capsule Filigree Borders dies!! They add the perfect detailed border around tags and such, BUT the negative shape that is left when the frame is cut, makes a DARLING tag with a built in decorative trim!!! You get a total two-fer with the frame and the negative that are both totally usable elements! Take that negative, layer a pretty die cut on it and punch a whole at the top and BAM! Instant tag!

I also can’t recommend enough die cutting and then stamping the Little and Large Linked Labels dies and then also running them through with the detail embossing folders (Little & Large) as well. They are just SO PRETTY and so detailed and professional looking when you add all three elements!

PRO TIP: My biggest tip for you today, is to get yourself a tray or a shoebox or a platter or whatever sort of thing you’ve got on hand…..doesn’t need to be fancy. And then get out your tag making goodies and fill that thing up! Make yourself a gift-topping assortment of things to use when you’re wrapping gifts this year! The creative process is fun, you’ll want to walk by often and gaze lovingly at all the beauty you created – hahaha! – which almost makes it feel like Christmas decor AND you’ll have so much fun shopping from your own little store…I mean, tray…..when you wrap gifts this year! 🙂

You could even make a party out of it and have a friend or ten over and everyone make some tags to fill their own box. OOOH, or each person could bring their own box and a stack of tags to share. Everyone could swap tags and go home with a stash! OR, you could keep it simple and make tags with your kiddos or grandies. There are loads of ways to get it done, but I highly recommend an epic tag tray! Many of the tags could be used as bookmarks, too!

Also, if you’re really wanting a vintage printer’s tray, they’re not hard to find. Antique stores often have several in the different booths around the store, and I’m guessing you could find them on eBay, as well.

I hope I’ve given you some inspiration today! This project makes me want to get back to my desk and make even more goodies, so I hope it does the same for you!

Thanks so much for spending a bit of your day with me! And if you create your own tag tray, by all means tag me on Instagram! I’d love to see it! Find me at @dawnsing!

xo,
Dawn