Kerri Bradford Studio: Give Thanks Tags

I have a new project up at Kerri Bradford Studio today. This month, Kerri asked us to focus on the theme of "gratefulness" for our projects. I really went back and forth on what I wanted to do, flipping between a layout, mini album, or some sort of altered project. The altered project finally won out, and I'm glad it did, because it turned out better than the layout I actually started and then tossed.

I think it's such a fun Thanksgiving tradition to have each member of the family write down what they're thankful for. The last time my family did this, however, was five years ago. I did create a layout with all of those hand written notes (created two years ago for another Kerri Bradford Studio project), which you can see HERE. And last week, for my Bella Blvd project sheet layout seen HERE, I showed another way to include those notes on a layout.

I thought I would do things a little differently this time, and create some fun tags for everyone to write on, jotting down some of the things that they're thankful for when we get together for Thanksgiving dinner.

I originally sized these tags so that they were roughly 3" x 4" in size, thinking that I could then simply slip them all into a divided page protector and stick it right into my family albums. I still really like that idea, as it would keep them all together, could go side by side next to a layout (if I had any photos from the day), and wouldn't take up my space.

But in the end, I wanted the tags to be larger in size. They ended up being 3.5" x 5.5", which isn't that much larger, but just felt a lot larger than the 3" x 4" ones that I tried.

To start, I cut a handful of tags, using Kerri's Holly Jolly Christmas kit, from kraft cardstock. I ran each tag thru a dotted embossing folder and then spritzed it with brown misting spray.

I machine stitched around the outside edges of the tags a few times, and then I also decided to draw some rough lines around the outer edges with a brown pen.

I picked out some fall patterned papers (all from Bella Blvd) and used a leaf cut from the This & That: Gratitude [Just Shapes] kit to cut leaves from both the patterned papers and some white cardstock. I ran the white cardstock leaves thru a woodgrain embossing folder, even though it ended up not being that noticeable once I layered the leaves together on the tag.

I also cut some little banners, taken from Kerri's Banners kit, from white cardstock, which I layered over the leaf on each tag. I was originally going to use brads to secure the folded ends of the banners together, but decided that some tiny staples, using my Tiny Attacher, were much quicker.

I used tiny alpha stickers from Jillibean Soup to add family member's names to each tag. Everyone will know exactly which tag is theirs, and they can write on the backside of the tag, listing the things they're thankful for this year.

I still need to create a few more tags, as I only started with twelve of them, and one got tossed in the process. We actually don't have set plans yet for Thanksgiving, so I'm not really sure who all will be around. But I have a good amount started.

I also wanted to have a place to store these tags, and came across this cute little burlap bag at the craft store. It was the perfect size (about 6" x 8") to slip all of my tags into. I cut a piece of kraft cardstock for the front of the bag, and used a few glue dots to lightly position it on the bag where I wanted it. I then hand stitched a button to each corner of the cardstock to secure it to the bag. 

I don't plan on this being handled a lot, so having only the corners secured is ok with me. If I was worried about it staying in place, I would probably add some more hand stitching around the edges to really make sure it stayed in place.

I used the same patterned papers for the front of the bag that I had used for the leaves on the tags, so that everything coordinated. I pulled the "thanks" from Kerri's Giving Thanks kit, and cut it both from the navy blue woodgrain patterned paper and white cardstock.

I could have done the entire phrase "give thanks" from that kit, but I wanted to include a chunkier word along with the cursive word. So I used Kerri's Weathered Door Alpha kit to cut the word "give". I had an extra banner laying around, so I added that on there as well, along with the year.

And just a funny little backstory on these photos. I usually take the easy way out and photograph projects in my scraproom, plopped right on the table. I'm not big on staging photos, mainly because I just don't have the time or the space. I had to take these photos while the daycare kids were napping, which meant my only option for good natural light was to go outside. I have this piece of wood that I bought a while back and painted with black chalkboard paint, with the intention of using it to photograph cards. I knew it would work well to photograph this project.

But I also knew that I wanted some leaves in the photos. We don't get much "fall" around here, but I do have a few trees in my front yard that drop a good amount of leaves this time of year. My backyard, meanwhile, has NO leaves. I wasn't about to try and photograph this project in the front yard, as I live on a busy street and have some questionable neighbors (and a few very nice ones). So I scooped up a container of leaves from the front yard and dumped them on the grass in the backyard. All to get a few good photos. But I think it paid off, since it made my project look so much better than if it had been sitting on my boring black desk :)

Comments

[Mendi Yoshikawa]

Such a clever idea and wonderful keepsake! Loving the blue and orange woodgrain patterned papers! :)

[Cynthia]

Nicely done...so grateful that you like to share your talent will all of us....thanks so much for sharing...

[Monique Liedtke]

These are awesome!! Great idea and fun cut files (I use Kerri's cut files all the time too :) ). LOL about the dumping the leaves from the container on to the grass, but yes, your photos look sooooo much better :) - next time you could come to my garden .... leaves everywhere!