As I wrote last week with our Summer Camp Packing lists (did you download your FREE copy?) our kiddos have been adventuring away from home a lot this summer. They visited my sister, my mother-in-law, and now church camp. This is Speedracer’s first year at church camp and we’ve developed several little rites of passage for the first year. One is that they get their first toiletry bag (or shaving kit bag for the boys) and one is that they get their personalized luggage tags.
This is an easy and inexpensive DIY craft project with paper and Mod Podge and, barring any truly horrendous rain events, they can last for years.
If you’re familiar with my version of DIY and crafting, then you know that the projects are pretty quick and simple–usually because I’m doing them at midnight the night before! {smile}
As I go along, I’ll be sharing different ways that you could use materials you have on hand to save time and cost as well. The great thing about these DIY family projects is that there are so many options to make them in your style, in your budget, and in your time frame!
1. Supplies
We’ll go into more detail as we go along, but you’ll need:
- Thick, pressed chipboard for the tag base (will also work with pre-cut crafting wood)
- Fun paper for the background
- Stickers or cutout letters for the monogram
- Mod Podge to put it all together, with a brush
- A hole punch (I love my Crop-A-Dile–which the kiddos still call my “crocodile puncher”) and ribbon or string for the tie
- A paper cutter and Exacto knife for trimming (or good scissors)
2. Chipboard Base
You’ll see in my pictures that I’m just reusing some extra thick, heavy cardboard vocabulary flashcards as our tag base. These are not paper, they’re the thick, survive-a-baby-chewing-on-them cards (like these) that I saved just for future craft projects. Another reuse option would be the pressed cardboard of children’s book covers, or baby board books. (Surely I’m not the only one who has children’s books that didn’t survive the children!) Or you can just buy chipboard (see the package of pre-cut white chipboard tags) or pre-cut crafting wood tags and save time.
What you don’t want for this project is just cardstock paper or corrugated cardboard like an old Amazon box.
It just won’t hold up nearly as well.
3. Fun Paper to Cover the Tag
You can use pretty much anything to cover your cardstock. I prefer high-quality, double-sided scrapbook paper. But I’ve also used sheet music from an old hymnal, old paper maps (yes, you can find those still!), photos, magazine pages, book pages (from those children’s books you took the covers from!), recipe cards…whatever suits your style. You won’t need much either, so it can be very thrifty!
For Speedracer’s tags, I used school-themed paper and bright colors, similar to this one. You cut the paper to the shape and size of your tag.
Then you apply a thin layer of Mod Podge to the tag and stick the paper on there.
I prefer to use a foam brush because otherwise you have to watch for bristles, but I didn’t have one on hand. Once you brush the Mod Podge on your tag, you need to give it about 10-20 seconds to start drying and really get sticky before you apply the paper on top. Be sure to let it dry well before moving on.
4. Additional Decorations
This is completely up to your style and your choice, but now is the time to layer any additional decorations you want to use other than your monogram to the background.
You could add background stickers, or multiple layers of paper. In this case, I added a couple of rows of colorful washi tape to create some interest as well as a little dimension. I’m in love with washi tape right now (because it’s so easy!) and I had piles of it on hand. The older two I had left with simple, one-layer backgrounds because their paper and letters had a stronger pattern.
5. Add Monogram Stickers or Chipboard
This is another spot where you can make this as complicated as you want to. The stickers for Speedracer’s tag came from the Dollar Store. The chipboard letters for the first two sets I did came from scrapbooking kits, like these pre-decorated ones from K&Company. BIG time saver!
Or you could get plain chipboard letters and paint and decorate them yourself. I’ve done this too, but it’s not quick. Or easy.
Then you put a thin layer of Mod Podge over the whole thing and let it dry. This is going to add a layer of protection to your luggage tags. It will help keep the colors and letters from scraping off and will give it a little weatherproofing.
6. Punch Holes and Add String
I use whatever decorative ribbon I have around that matches. In this case, I did not use my favorite jute or hemp twine. I want to be able to take the tags off easily and put them on a different piece if needed. With twine, I would end up having to cut and replace it each time.
Here’s a close-up of the other family tags. Each year I take a few minutes and put a fresh layer of Mod Podge on them to keep everything glued down and protected. The Ladybugs’ are going on 4 years now!
Then we just tie them onto the end of their little rolling luggage and their sleeping bag sacks.
We have these older CalPak duffle suitcases that usually aren’t available anymore that we just love and use for everything. (2022 Update: And they are STILL going strong!) But an updated option we have found would be these Rockland rolling duffles, which we’ve gotten for all the nieces and nephews and are equally happy with. (2022 Update: The Rockland alternate choices we purchased for the family are also still going strong!)
You might notice that Speedracer’s new tags (middle) are a little bigger than the other two sets. He and the Cowboy have the same first and last initials, so rather than make both of them big enough for 3 letters, I just used the first name for the Cowboy and the first and land name for Speedracer. For the Ladybug, I used whatever I already had letters for! {smile}
Now, these are more ID tags for the kiddos to recognize their own bags. However, the backs are blank and for more exotic travel, it would be very easy to write a contact address and phone number on a separate piece of paper and just Mod-Podge it onto the back of the tag.
If you have any questions, please let me know! And be sure to stop by to get our other overnight packing tips and your FREE summer camp packing checklists!