Thanksgiving Stagger Tags

Hello all! Lora here with some fun Thanksgiving tags from the fabulous Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts folks. I love fall colors and that's what inspired these cute tags. They are called Stagger Tags (small) and the set is three cute tags ranging from 2.5 x 4.5 (largest) to 2.5x3.5 (smallest). Great tags to put on a package, tie to a napkin ring or even use as a place tag on the table or attached to the back of a chair.

The fall-colored napkins are so pretty this year, I decided to use them instead of cardstock for the background of my tags.

 The first thing I did was give the tags a rough coat of white gesso. (you can use white paint as well) Since you are going to peel the napkins apart and they are transparent, it's good to have a white background as the colors will really pop.

After the gesso dried, I peeled the napkin apart, making sure that I got all three ply separated. Nearly all napkins are 3-ply. Make sure you have got the backing (the two separate ply of white layers) away from the 'picture' part of the napkin. If you leave a ply underneath the printed picture, the picture will not adhere properly and will eventually peel off.
And that would be sad.
After I separated all three ply (I always save the plain white to use for clean and etc...) I put of coat of matte medium on the tag (I used Liquitex Matte Medium) and gently laid the napkin over the tag, making sure there were no air bubbles. Folds are okay, but air bubbles will tear and you don't want that!

After placing the picture, I gave the piece a top coat of matte medium, making sure the whole surface is covered then set it aside to dry and worked on the other two. Do not try to tear the edges off at this point...let it all dry or you can tear the napkin right off of the tag.
Also sad.
Because here is what you do and it is so much easier and looks so much better!

After the tag has dried completely, use a fine grit sanding block or an emery board and sand off the extra bits of napkin. It looks so much tidier than tearing and you then have a nice edge to ink on. Easy, fast and purdy.
And now you have a beautiful surface to embellish that was simple and fun. I like the idea of having other options to use as a background surface and some of the designs on napkins these days are so nice.
One note: Make sure you get a quality product. I test all my napkins beforehand by applying a little matte medium to the surface to make sure they don't bleed or run. It does sometimes happen. I usually always buy the napkins on sale but have learned that some manufacturers do not use a stable dye. I can imagine what would happen if you wiped something really wet off of your face.....what a mess.
My favorite companies are Michel Design Works and Caspari, but there are others that are equally good.

Another fun thing I did paint the Miniature Book Plates Shape Set pieces I used on the tags to look a little like wood.

I just painted the bookplates with a mixture of orange and red, let them dry and then dry-brushed some sap green lightly across the top. The red underneath makes the sap green appear brown and simulate (loosely) wood grain.
Add ribbons, metal findings and erudite (not really) sayings and there you have it.  Thanksgiving tags.
Now go make fun stuff!

Thank you for stopping by!

SUPPLIES
Stagger Tags (small)
Miniature Book Plates Shape Set


Additional supplies
Napkins
Matte Medium
Ribbon
Beads
Metal findings
Stickles Glitter Glue