A VINTAGE SANTA AS AN ORNAMENT OR GIFT TAG

It's almost Christmas!  Have you got your gifts wrapped and under the tree?  

They need tags, right?  Or how about a handmade vintage tag as an ornament on your tree?

This vintage style tag was created using a standard manila tag along with DecoArt products and Tando Creative Laser die cuts.

Before we get into the tutorial, let's list the products you'll need for this project:

• DecoArt Decoupage Paper (sheet music)
• DecoArt Media Matte Medium
• DecoArt Media Crackle Paste
• DecoArt Chalky Finish Romance (red) Paint
• DecoArt Vintage Effects White Paint
• DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics Burnt Umber
• DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics Metallic Gold
• DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics Transparent Yellow Iron Oxide
• Decoart Media Liquid Glass

• Clock Face
• Large Book Plate

Other Miscellaneous Supplies:

• Palette Knife
• Paint Brush
• Craft Mat
• Regular Size Manila Tag
• White Flocking
• Holly Greenery Garland
• Vintage Bells
• Vintage Beads (to embellish the garland)
• Gold Ribbon (to create a small bow)
• Craft Pick (to clean out excess Crackle Paste on Tando Creative pieces)
• Anna Giffin Santa Tags
• Adhesive Pop Dots
• Dear Santa Stamp
• Permanent Black Ink

Now let's begin to create ...

Step 1:  Brush DecoArt Media Matte Medium onto a regular tag and lay the sheet music decoupage paper on top of the tag.  Press into place; removing all air bubbles and wrinkles.  Heat set then cut away the excess paper.

Step 2:  Using a palette knife, smear DecoArt Media Crackle Paste randomly on the tag. Let completely air dry. The inset picture shows you the lovely crackle effect when dry.

Step 3:  Brush over the tag with DecoArt Chalky Finish Romance Paint for a beautiful vintage matte appearance. Heat set. Next, Randomly brush DecoArt Vintage Effects over the tag; wiping away excess and adding more paint as needed to create a really lovely vintage feel.  Then repeat this step again; adding more red and white layers.  Heat set in between each layer.

Just look at all of the texture and varied colors!

Brush on a wash of water and Decoart Media Fluid Acrylics Burnt Umber paint and wipe away the excess. This gives your tag even more of an aged, vintage look.

Cover the Tando Creative Pieces with DecoArt Media Crackle Paste.  I used my finger to get more of a random coverage and then used a Craft Pick to clean out excess Crackle Paste between the roman numerals.  (I also cut the clock about 2/3 across to fit on my tag the way I wanted it to). Let these pieces completely air dry.

When dry, I added DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics Metallic Gold paint using a small brush to cover the crackle paint. 

I also added some of the Metallic Gold Paint to my tag using my finger to create a soft shimmer in the light.

Next add some DecoArt Fluid Acrylics Burnt Umber with your finger over the crackled gold Tando Creative pieces to give them more of an aged appearance.  I also added Burnt Umber around the edge of the tag wiping it with my finger to define the edges of the tag.

Next I instantly aged a retro Santa tag by lightly brushing a wash of water and DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics Transparent Yellow Iron Oxide.  In the inset, you can see the difference that the Transparent Yellow Iron Oxide makes!  I absolutely LOVE this paint!  It's one of my favorite vintage style tools!

Next glue the clock face in place on the tag using DecoArt Media Liquid Glass as a glue.  It dries clear and is an excellent glue. 

For an even more vintage appeal, I added white Flocking randomly on my Santa tag.  I did this by using a small brush and brushing DecoArt Media Matte Medium over areas of the tag that I wanted to be covered in the flocking.  Then I sprinkled the flocking on top of the wet Matte Medium, gently tapped it down, lifted up the tag and tapped off the excess flocking. I also anchored the holly greenery garland through the tag hole.

Here you get a closer look at the flocking that has been applied with the DecoArt Matte Medium.  It's the little details like this that can make all the difference!

The Santa tag is almost finished!  I layed everything in place to get my design and then hot glued everything down.  The Tando Creative Book Plate is raised with a couple of pop dots underneath.  The "Dear Santa" is stamped onto cardstock that was washed with a DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics Transparent Yellow Iron Oxide wash. The next to the last step was to use my finger to wipe DecoArt Media Fluid Acryilcs Metallic Gold around the edges of the tag. This really pulled everything together.

And finally, I hot glued all of the little vintage bells, beads and bows in place to complete the festive look.

Merry Christmas everyone!  

About the Artist:  Candy Colwell

Blog: http://candycreates.blogspot.com

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/candy.colwell.9
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/rindacelly

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