One of the things that I have come up against when giving handknits as a gift is how to express the care and feeding of the item to the recipient without making the birthday or baby card sound like a do’s and don’ts list. Given that often cards quickly get separated from the gift, this is one way that I use to make sure that the knits that I give receive the care that they require.
Some people sew fabric care tags into their garments, but I find these itchy and often expensive. My solution is also easily customized for whatever the handmade item is.
I found these shipping tags a while ago at an office supply store. They are durable and large enough to contain all the information I need to put on them.
The last time I was in Staples, I checked and they are about $6 for a package of 100 tags. So not pricy.
I also have this lovely stamp that says, “Original Handmade With Care” on it. I got it a while ago at Michael’s on clearance. You don’t even need to use one like this. If you see a stamp that you think is nice and it fits, go for it! I also snagged the black ink pad for $1. I’ve seen stamps like this before, in fact I think I have one that even says “Handmade by:” on it somewhere in my storage unit.
The rest is pretty intuitive. Stamp the tags, leaving enough space to write something below (there’s always the back too).
Attach the tags to the handmade object and voila! No more boring cards!
(I could see a pretty cool version of this using up-cycled old Christmas cards for the front for Christmas gifts.:-))
Sarah Jane Humke 