Today I'm sharing a little DIY with you guys to add some art and personalization to your Holiday season!
I’m sharing a little Holiday DIY with you guys today because it’s a really fun and simple way to personalize your holiday dinner parties, but also remain creative and take time to yourself. Of course, this time of year is very overwhelming, and while adding crafts to your schedule seems to be an almost impossible suggestion, I guarantee you this little craft will allow you to grant some mindfulness and self-care into your busy month. Take the time to do things slowly and with intention – and it will prevent burnout and overwhelm.
So, let’s get into what you’ll need to make these little name tags.
- Watercolor Paper – I use Canson’s Heritage Cold Press Watercolour paper that I cut into 2x6” squares, scored halfway for an easy fold. (https://en.canson.com/cansonr-heritage)
- Watercolour Brush – I use Princeton’s Neptune 18 Round. You can find it here:(https://princetonbrush.com/neptune-series-4750-princeton-brush-company-brush-4750/)
- Watercolour Paints – I use Winsor and Newton’s Professional Series Watercolours. For these tags, I used perylene Green, Sepia, Perylene Violet and Rose Gold.Found here: (https://www.winsornewton.com/row/paint/watercolour/professional-watercolour/)
- Soft Pastels (white or off-white for the glitter-dust, speckled effect)
- White Gel Roller Pen, or “Gelly Roll” Pen, for little speckles.
- Jar of Water, Cloth or Paper Towel, Scissors or X-acto knife, Ruler
- Ribbon or Rope
- Fixative. I use winsor and newton’s Professional Fixative (optional).
Follow along with the steps below:
- Cut and Score your paper to about 2x6”, or 2x3” (If you’re not doing a fold over card).
- Secure your paper to a backing paper or board with some double sided tape so that they won’t move once you start brushing the paint over them.
- Using a big round brush, apply a very light wash of colour in the corners or entire piece of paper. Let this be very intuitive and loose, the less you mess with it the more natural it will look when it dries. I’ve done a few examples for you including a full coverage but also contained pools of paint.
- Let them start to dry, and once you start to see the little pool of watercolour paint and water start to dry, being to add a highly pigmented drop of colour in localized areas and watch the paint slowly bleed into the wet paper. This will give your tags a marble / jewel like quality as they dry.
- Once you’re happy with the look and intensity of each one, let them fully dry before adding soft pastel and the marker.
- Using light strokes of a white or off-white soft pastel, add little speckles to each card, little clusters of white to create a speckled effect.
- Using your white “Gelly Roll” pen, add little marks and dots in small clusters on top of the soft pastel.
- In a well ventilated or outdoor space, using the Fixative Spray, press gently and spray each card so that the soft pastel, including the little dust that stays on the card adheres to each one. This step is optional but helps if you want a lot more texture!
- To finish, I hole-punch a little hole in each card, take some velvet ribbon or twine, and wrap each card around a table napkin.
LAST MINUTE GIFT IDEA: Make 6-10 cards, pair with a set of table napkins, and gift this set as a last-minute holiday gift. Or, if you’re using them, using a felt tip or calligraphy pen, write guests’ names on each card when you’re ready to use them!
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