Upcycled Holiday Cards to Make Ornaments or Gift Tags

☆ This Instructable will provide you with instructions on how to make beautiful upcycled ornament or gift tags ☆

• used holiday cards (for the decorative front of the ornament or gift tag)
• construction paper any color you want (for the back of the ornament or gift tag)
• a piece of card board or card stock paper (for your stencil design)
• a marker (to trace around your stencil)
• one pair of scissors ( to cut out your traced designs on the construction paper and holiday cards)
• masking tape
• glue stick
• a spool of jewelry wire size: 22 gauge
• jewelry pliers with wire cutter (to cut jewelry wire and bend the ends of the wire)
• any color any material small beads (8mm and smaller) I used beads from used broken jewelry items))
• string, yarn or ribbon (for hanging your upcycled ornament and or gift tag).

Draw card stock paper or a holiday card the outline of a bird and cut out the outline of the bird you drew with scissors. (You now have your stencil)

Cut out 2 pieces of paper one piece of construction paper and a piece of a holiday card. Cut them in to a square or big enough shape to fit your bird stencil.

Tape the two pieces of paper together; one construction paper taped to a holiday card.

Then use your stencil to trace the bird design on top of the construction paper that is taped to the holiday card.

Then cut the birds out that you traced/stenciled on to the construction paper that is taped to the holiday cards.

After cutting out the birds measure out jewelry wire that is around 1.5 - 2 inches bigger than the bird stencil itself; from top (back of the bird) to bottom (belly of the bird)cut the wire with jewelry wire cutter.

Make a loop on the cut piece of wire with the jewelry pliers. (This will be where you put a piece of string, yarn, ribbon to hang your ornament or gift tag .

Tape the wire with the loop side of the wire piece on the top of the birds back. Tape the wire on the back of the card. (The wire will be on the inside of the bird).

Then with the glue stick, glue the construction paper bird on the side to fit on the bird with the wire taped to it. (Make sure you’re gluing the right side of the paper). Then place the bird with the glue with the bird with the wire together. (Place a book on top of them or a heavy box for at least 30 min.

Then you can put beads on the wire on the bird. Bend or make another loop at the end of the wire with the jewelry pliers to keep the beads from falling off.

Hang with string, yarn or ribbon. Through the wire loop on the top of the bird.