Macra-made Just for You Shaker Tags! A Squirrel Gone Nutz Blog Hop

Hello! It’s that time of the month again and I’m excited to be hopping along with the Squirrel Squad! This month’s theme is Friendship and Shaker cards/tags! Woohoo! What a perfect theme for February and to celebrate friendships! If you had come from the wonderful Marie‘s blog, then you are in the right place. I also have the full hop listed at the end of my post.

Every year, I make a bunch of handmade notecard sets to give as gifts to friends. I usually have about 5 or 6 sets ready to go. I had recently just gifted my last set so this was a perfect opportunity to replenish my stash. But instead of notecards, I thought to give a set of gift tags! So for this month’s challenge I will be doing some shaker tags using The Greetery Macrame dies. When I saw these dies, I immediately fell in love with them! I’ve had this in my stash just waiting for the perfect opportunity to be palyed with – and to use them as shaker tags, I just couldn’t resist!

These dies are quite unique in that they have an “openwork” design to them. To achieve the macrame feel to it, you would need to use the dies across the card, or in this case, the tags from end to end. I had just one dilemna, how to confine the shaker bits inside the “openwork” without the foam tape showing through. Then I thought of this silicone tape I purchased from the hardware store called – Nano Double Sided silicone tape. It’s a thick clear very strong double sided tape made out of clear silicone which I had used to hang lightweight photo frames on a wall. So I decided to give it a try and it worked! This is going to be staple in my craft room from now on!

To create these tags, I used the biggest tag die in the Altenew Terrific Tags set as my base for both shaker tags. For the first tag, I used the openwork die with the zig zag pattern and die cut towards the bottom the tag. Then I used the Macrame Borders dies and die cut diamond shaped macrame designs. I layered them on top of each other then fussy cut the top off. I then added clear acetate at the back of the “openwork”. I cut two small strips of the silicone tape and adhered it on both sides where it would show thru. Then I added a double layer of regular foam tape to completely seal off the area.

I added shaker bits from my stash inside the shaker area then used another piece of the die cut tag to completely seal it off.. These shaker bits I’ve had in my stash for quite awhile. It’s from an old Hero Arts My Monthly Hero Kit. I thought the colors really matched the flowers and greenery of my tag.

Speaking of flowers and greenery, I stamped all the images from The Greetry Hoop Wreath stamp set with inks from Concord & 9th. I added some details on each flower with a 0.1 Micron pen just for some added interest.

Here is another tag I made using another of the macrame dies. This one has a diamond “openwork” pattern.

Both sentiments “Hello” and “For You” are also from the Hoop Wreath stamp set. They were the perfect font size for tags! As a final touch, I used an organza ribbon also from my hoarded stash, tied at the base with a 1/4″ green satin ribbon.

Truth be told, I struggled a bit with making the first tag– but by the second tag, it went much faster. It was so much fun to do, I am going to spend one weekend stamping and die cutting these beauties! I hope to be able to make at least a set of 6 tags to gift to friends. I’m excited to do this as I get to use all those shaker bits I’ve been squirreling away!

I hope you were inspired by my creations! Next stop on the hop is the wonderful Lounon! You will be blown away with her creations!

‘Til next time!

❤️

Anna

Thank you for visiting my blog. I truly appreciate it! You can also find me on Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest and Facebook.

FULL HOP LIST:

Lounon Riviere

V Fairchild

Boryana Yankova

Karen Page

Natasha Davies

Marie Bingaman

Anna Mahtani (you are here!)

PRODUCTS:

Note: I am affiliated with some online stores including Altenew, Concord & 9th, Hero Arts, Brutus Monroe and Trinity Stamps. If you use any of the links above, I get a small commission from these wonderful shops at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support!