Christmas Gift Tag - Use Your Tiny Scraps

Hello everyone!   Since October, when I began making Christmas cards, I have been saving the little strips cut from patterned paper. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with them, but I figured I would keep them around and maybe I would think of something.
Today I'm sharing how I used them. It feels good not to waste more than I have to and I think the tag turned out really cute.

   This is how my gift tag would look if hanging from a present.

  To make the background:

To make the Poinsettia:  I drew three leaves in different sizes on a piece of cardstock. I started with my largest leaf to get the size flower I wanted. Then I used them as templates to make 5 leaves of each size by tracing around them.   Just a quick rough sketch to show you. I made sure to make stems so I could adjust how far or close the leaves are from the center of my flower then I just cut the extra length off. 

  Once I was done cutting my leaves I colored them with Tim Holtz Distress inks, first in Victorian Velvet and then in Barn Door. I used two colors so I could get some depth. I also creased my leaves (folded them in half) before applying the second ink so the crease would get less color on it and therefore stand out a little more.

I hot glued the leaves to a small paper circle and then for the flowering center I placed a dab of hot glue and poured clear beads on it.    To embellish my tag I made two die cuts with my Spellbinders Medallion 5 die and placed red gems in the center of each.

It's difficult to see in the photos, but the strips of paper in the background stand out nicely.

To give my tag a finished edge I edged it in Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Barn Door) and then hot glued a pretty Christmas cord onto it.   The last steps were to add the bows on the bottom corners and the doilies to the back of my tag.

  For a final touch I added a white ribbon with glittery edges to the top and slipped it through a red bead.
The lace at the top was just used to hold it in the correct position for the photo.

 
Happy Crafting!