Make Handmade Christmas Labels Personalized with Love

Today I’m going to show you how to make your own Christmas labels and toppers to really make your presents pop!

The year I learned handmade Christmas labels and wrapping mean more than people say completely changed how I looked at giving presents.

Get more Christmas inspiration — including Christmas recipes, holiday crafts and children’s activities.

Make Handmade Christmas Labels Personalized with Love

My mom has always made gift wrapping an art.

Every Christmas, it was almost a competition to who could create the most beautiful bows… handmade of course!

In my 20s, I decided to blow. my. mom. away. (Just a little friendly competition!)

I headed off to our local craft store, getting beautiful wrapping, a myriad of wired ribbon and sprigs of artificial flowers, pine cones and ivy.

When I arrived at home with all of my gifts, my mom was speechless in the best of ways. She realized all those years that I had given her a hard time about her gift wrapping ways had rubbed off.

Several years later, I went to an office party.

For the gift exchange, I got a young dad, who was also Jewish.

In addition to the great gift I chose, I went out of my way to find some beautiful frost blue wrapping paper and wrapped it with my best handmade bow with glitter snowflakes.

And for the final touch, I tied a wooden dreidel to it for his little one.

At first, I thought he would think it was over the top… but the look on his face was worth the effort.

With a gasp, he asked if I had had it professionally wrapped.

And I could tell how touched he was that I had taken the effort and really put myself into the gift.

After that holiday party — our working relationship was definitely different.

While we had always been cordial acquaintances, I found that if I really needed some support, I could always ask him.

You see, wrapping presents isn’t just about hiding the contents of the gift.

It’s about creating and sharing the joy of gift giving.

Now, I really understand the importance of properly wrapping a gift.

After spending hours scouring stores for the perfect gift for each person on your list, the last thing you want to do is bury your thoughtful gesture in generic wrapping.

Fortunately, with the right tools and a little creativity, you can make your gift boxes just as personal as the gifts they contain.

When you opt to create your own handmade gift labels, the options are nearly endless.

If there are a large number of kids in your group, try making labels with photos instead of names so even the little ones who can’t read can get in on the fun when it’s time to hand out gifts.

Or for a more crafty approach, look to one of these ideas from the crafting experts at Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores, which will make your presents so pretty it almost seems a shame to open them.

Find more ideas for DIY projects to put a personal touch on your presents this holiday season at joann.com.

Handmade Christmas Labels and Gift Toppers

DIY Gift Toppers
Crafting time: 1-2 hours
Skill level: Beginner

Supplies and Tools:

• 12-inch paper trimmer with aluminum cut rail
• Cardstock
• Adhesive
• Twine
• Fiskars Label/Simple Double Tag Maker with Built-in Eyelet Setter
• Fiskars Banner Thick Materials Shape Punch
• Wood veneer
• Ribbon
• Alphabet stickers
• 8-inch scissors

You can purchase some of the supplies using the following affiliate links provided for your convenience:

Rosette Gift Topper

Use paper trimmer to cut two 3-by-6-inch pieces of card stock.

Fold each piece of card stock accordion style then fold in half to form fan. Adhere two pieces together to create rosette, and secure at center with twine.

Using label maker punch, cut simple label.

After punching tag, punch hang hole using hole punch at front of tool. Glue rosette to top of gift box and attach simple label with twine.

Wooden Banner Gift Topper

Use the punch for thick materials to cut banner pieces from wood veneer.

Tie thick piece of ribbon around gift box, and adhere wooden banner pieces to top.

Apply alphabet stickers to banner pieces to spell a festive word or gift recipient’s name.

Wrap twine around ribbon and banner to complete.

Bow Gift Topper

Cut two simple labels out of card stock using label punch and four banners out of card stock using banner punch.

Gently roll two simple labels in half, avoiding putting a crease in cardstock. Use scissors to trim flat end to match angled end.

Align simple label on top of two banner labels, and trim flat end of banners to match angle of simple label.

Adhere trimmed banner shapes to untrimmed banner shapes. Check that untrimmed banners extend beyond end of trimmed banners.

Curl up points by wrapping card stock around scissor blades or a pencil.

Adhere two ends of simple labels together and glue to banner pieces to create bow loops.

Use paper trimmer to cut small piece of card stock for bow center. Gently roll in half and adhere. Adhere bow sections together and attach to top of gift box.