A Few Tips - Part 3

Making Tags -- If you need to make hang tags, topper cards or pin-able tags for your items for craft fairs, packaging or such, it's pretty easy to come up with something useable without having to have a ton of them done up on card stock at a printer place. 

 

The Dollar Stores often carry clear contact paper which looks identical to lamination plastic. You get 3 feet for $1.  Or you can go to WalMart and get the 5 foot rolls for about $6.  Not only do they have the smooth surface, there's a ridged surface that works well too. Just do not get the 'frosted' type, you can't see through it and you need the surface to be clear.

 

Do your tags in Microsoft Word, drop in a picture if you want from online, play with the font styles and sizes, and when you're done just print them out on your printer.  Unroll the clear contact paper, peel back the clear part and carefully lay your page of tags (or cut tags) on the sticky part.  I start at one side and lower it down, pressing to eliminate any air bubbles. 

 

You can do one side only, or both sides if you need a stiffer tag. Once done, trim with a scissors.  Use a hole punch at the appropriate place and you're good to go.  It's very cheap, easy to do, and if you did it right it will look fairly professional.   And it's a FRACTION of the cost it would have been if you had the tags laminated. 

 

NEVER Buy Retail -- If the store you buy your supplies at has a coupon program, sign up for it. Fabric stores take coupons from competitors.  Buy on sale. There's no reason to have to purchase at full price if you can help it.  Need more coupons?  Check the company's website, they often have smart phone coupons available, or a special printable one. 

 

Alternatives To Buying Fabric At The Fabric Store -- Yes, you can get fabric off eBay (especially discontinued prints) however the shipping costs add up pretty fast that way. A better way is to go fabric shopping at Goodwill, St. Vincent de Paul, or any thrift shop.  It's the easiest way to get leather so thin you can machine sew it (leather skirts, gloves, thin coats, etc.) as well as interesting prints in roughly 1/3rd to 1/2 yard pieces.  The cost can be less than half what you'd have paid at the fabric store for comparable fabric type.  For odd prints or something truly unusual, it's always worth looking through the racks. 

 

My sister found a fleur de lis print 'full size' quilt that was $5. We sat and watched a movie as we used seam rippers to separate the top layer from the bottom, took off the interior padding of the quilt, and she had enough fabric to make a Medieval outfit from it for herself that looked fantastic.  It was roughly 4 1/2 yards of useable top and another 4 1/2 yards of bottom fabric in solid color.  THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX FOLKS!