Supplies:
 Shipping Tags (Whichever size you choose-You can find these at your local Office Supply Store)
 Instant Coffee or Walnut Ink
 Vanilla (optional)
 Candle oil (Optional)
 Stamps, Pens, Pictures (You'll need modge podge for the pictures)
 
These are really simple to make and add a great accent to your crafts!
 
First you'll need to mix your coffee stain. I take one cup of HOT water and add in 3 HEAPING tablespoons of instant coffee. (You can add a few drops of the vanilla if you would like) I put it into a spray bottle but you can also pour it into a shallow cookie sheet that has a lip around the edge and soak them or use a sponge brush to apply it.

Once you've stained your tags, place them on a dry cookie sheet in the oven on LOW until they dry out. If they are not dark enough then you can spray them again until you achieve the look you want.

To use the walnut ink, mix one teaspoon of granules (more or less depending on your preference) with 1 cup of HOT water. Stir until the crystals have dissolved. I would recommend using a sponge brush to apply this mixture to your tags. You can let them air dry or put them in the oven on low. If the little hole reinforcer falls off just glue it back on once it's dry. If your tags have curled up you can use an iron set on cotton setting to iron them out. I would use a pressing cloth or a small washrag over the tag and then iron on top of that.

Once they are dry, use your stamps to stamp a special message or a sharpie marker to write a neat saying. You can print out vintage pictures and modge podge them onto the tag. If the pictures are too bright on the stained tag stir a bit of the coffee mixture into the modge podge first. Try adding some pizzazz with glass glitter or mica flakes. You can embellish them with buttons, stickers, or rickrack. Check out the scrapbook section of your local craft store for lots of different ideas. You can also use different things in place of the strings-raffia, jute, or strips of homespun.

To add scent to your tags, I use 1 oz candle oil to 3 oz distilled water and put it into a spray bottle. Spritz the tags on the back and they'll smell terrific! Some folks add the oil to their coffee or ink mixture but to me it smells strongest when applied this way.
 
There is also another way to do tags and that is to print them out with the graphics already done. Just print the tag images on cardstock, then cut them out! These are some tags made by Terri from Pumpkin Seed Primitives:
 

 
Here are some hand painted tags from Erin of Whimsical Princess:
 

 
Erin has also offered this tip:
Because electricity is so expensive here in Canada, when we have a beautiful, hot sunny day I antique my tags in coffee and vanilla like everyone else (the hotter the water the better, it tends to get to the fibers in the tags better) I then use old screen doors to put my tags on. (I am usually doing 200-500 at a time) I leave them out in the sun and let Mother Nature do it's thing, as they start to dry you can re-dip to make darker.
 
Here is another example of tags made by Stacey of Prim Primitives. She uses vintage pictures and embellishes her tags with glass glitter.
 

~Megan

This may sound a little silly but I'm still new to this process. I don't want to cut and paste an image on a hang tag. I was wanting to print an image on to the hang tag. Question is do you stain the tag first before printing an image on it or vise versa. And how do you print an image on one hang tag? How do you run one hang tag through the printer or is there a trick?
Thanks!

Thanks again for the wonderful tips. This was very helpful.
Judy

Thank you sooo much. I have been looking up how to make these. I buy them but I have my own ideas that I would like to create. You have been a great help!

Hello girls, I'm a little old lady experimenting with some of my own creations and just wanted to say thanks so much for all your wonderfully helpful hints!

Your hand tags are fabulous but where do you get the pictures - from the net? and how do you know what you can use or what is copyrighted? Is that a concern.

I seem to be a little behind all of you in making hang tags, Did some for Christmas using hand embroidered patters and ribbon embroidery and then glued to hang tags that I had purchased years ago on Ebay. I have found wonderful people out there who are so gracious as to share their thoughts and "recipes" for making my one. Thanks to all the crafters that have helped and touched my life with all their knowledge.

Great ideas! I live in a small town, with no office supply store to buy tags from, so I have made my own from manilla file folders. I stain the entire folder with very strong brewed tea, using the tea bags to sponge and rub the brew on. If the tea bag breaks, then I just leave the little bits of tea leaves on until it dries - they'll just add little darker splotches. Once dry I brush off any tea leaves and cut out my tag shapes, punch holes and use the little round notebook page reinforcers around the holes. I usually color the reinforcers brown with a marker first before attaching them to the tags.

many thanks for this, I am going to try some of these tags .....they are lovely.x

Excellent site, will visit again

thanks for sharing .I will definately try !