The CHRISTMAS VINTAGE TAG BOARD
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Making small, mixed media collages on manilla shipping tags is a personal favorite project of mine. These particular manilla shipping tags were first stained with walnut ink and painted in places, and then given to me as a gift from an artist friend, Carolyn.
On top of each *vintage* tag, I created a small tribute to an old fashioned Christmas, using saved ephemera, miniature decorations, canceled Christmas stamps of a religious nature showing the Madonna and Child, images of antique postcards, floral embellishments, and other tiny treasures.
While the concept of altered tags on a board used as an Advent Calendar for the month of December is hardly original, what I love about this project is that anyone who creates a tag board ends up with an original work of art ~ no two could ever be alike.
The board is made of two pieces of 32" x 20" foam board with polyester batting on top, covered by two layers of burlap which were stapled onto the back side. The underlayer of burlap is flax-colored, and the top layer of burlap is off-white so the tags show up better. For the days of December, I have used vintage, round wooden game markers - numbering 1-25, and glued them onto the burlap. Around the edge of the board I have placed decorative antique brass uphostery tacks. The backs of each tag have been sprayed with Krylon "Make It Stone" for added strength, then a light spraying of gold for decoration. Finally, each tag is adhered to the board with ivory-colored pearl straight pins.
This was a most enjoyable Christmas-themed project!
