I’d spend so much time on the Memorial Canvas & Frames that I didn’t have enough time to even start the next project I’d planned (still in the works, by the way) before the next deadline came due, so I needed a quick fix for an impromptu project.

Enter the concept of highly-decorated tags!

Tags were never really my thing back when I paper-scrapped a lot. They were nice to have and could fill some space on a page quite nicely, but I never really got into them the way others did. I think I’ve now changed my mind on the “simple” tag.

The thing about tags is that they are, as mentioned, quick. But they’re also great for other reasons:

• Instant gratification gives you a creative boost for other projects.
• They can be used to decorate packages, gift bags, or decorations.
• The small size means there’s not a lot of space to agonize over.

And, possibly the best reason to try your hand at tags:

• Tags are a great way to use up miscellaneous supplies.

In the case of the Dia de los Muertos kit, it was the 3-D skull stickers. They’re cool stickers with a little bit of a girly-biker vibe, and I loved that they were part of the kit, but they were the type of thing I’d squirrel away and not use because either I didn’t have a specific use for them or I didn’t want to use them up.

Plopping them on some tags meant I got to use them in a no-pressure situation, and I still get to keep the pretty tags around until such time as I find a better home for them. It’s not quite the same as having your cake and eating it, too, but it’s pretty darn close!

Each tag is 3.5″x6″ and is cut from some of the cardstock supplied in the kit. Here are close-ups and details about each one:

For the Garnet & Gold cameo tag, I stamped the background with the VLVS stamp, highlighted the texture in the braille paper with cranberry ink, then layered it all with woodgrain punchinella and brown & cream lace, stitching the looser bits up along the top edge.

The cameos in this kit kinda make me want to start wearing pins and brooches again, but I gave this set up for the tag and added some buttons and ribbon from my own stash to round it out. In the center I sewed one of the cross beads in the kit and called it a day.

The two pink & black tags exist solely to highlight the multi-layer skull stickers. For Mr. Staring Skull, He got embellished with a heart/motif sitcker from the same pack, turned on its side, a purple gem, some pen detailing on the other side traced through the sugar skull mask, a bow from wired mesh ribbon, and a bottle milagro. Cheers, dude!

The talking heads, on the other hand, got a layered heart sticker, some faux stitching care of a silver Sharpie, a matching mesh bow and a heart milagro.

So how ’bout it? Why not drag out those unused stickers and supplies and make some tags?