Birthday Goodness

My oldest daughter turns 20 tomorrow. Since I'm all about bags these days, of course, she will be receiving one amongst her birthday goodies.

Before I opened my Etsy shop, I knit about four cabled bags and rather than put my business name on the tags, I decided to put the recipients name on them. So, using Shrinky Dinks for the inkjet computer, I made a sample tag. Since that time, the CPSIA laws state that plastic items have to be tested, which can be very costly. Rather than test, I pulled these little purses from my Etsy shop. Anyway, all of that was just to say that I remembered the little tags that I made and also used a Shrinky Dinks sheet to personalize Paige's bag.

cute little (unsellable) purse

This is a very fun project. I used Microsoft Publisher to design the tag. You want to make or print your image 3 times larger than you expect it to be. When you're about done, set your oven to 250 - 300 degrees. Cut it out, I find that a rotary blade works best. If you don't have one, scissors will certainly do the job.

This next two pictures were taken for scale. The tag is huge before it shrinks. Also, it is important to set your picture to transparent or make the ink as light as possible. Once it cooks, it turns quite a bit darker. If you want a hole in it, it's a must to punch it before shrinking because the plastic will be too hard afterwards.

I heart crafting. I wonder if anyone who knows me ever expects a store bought gift? How about you? What percentage of your gift giving is hand crafted? This is not a rhetorical question. I'd like to know. Really.