Christmas and crafts are two of my favorite things! So naturally, I love combining the two. I am always looking for ways to spruce up my present wrapping skills and give little additional gifts in the process. This year, I decided to make these adorable little ornaments that I could use as name tags for the gifts. I saw the original idea on Pinterest, but the link sent me to an Etsy page rather than DIY instructions. So I’ve included a set of instructions below for all of those that feel up to the Christmas Ornament Gift Tag challenge:

What You Will Need:

• Wood Rounds (Mine were from Hobby Lobby and came without holes, but you can purchase wood rounds that are predrilled.)
• Black Chalkboard Paint (This is the chalkboard paint I purchased.)
• Chalk or Chalk Marker (I purchased a fine point chalk marker.)
• Ribbon (The style of the ribbon is complete up to you!)
• Paint Brush (I am not an artist, so I just used a cheap craft brush and it worked just fine.)

Step 1:
If you purchased rounds without holes, you will want to go ahead and drill the hole for the ribbon before you paint. If you wait until after you’ve painted or written on your round, then you run the risk of messing up your paint job or writing.

Step 2:
Apply the chalkboard paint onto the surface of your wood rounds. My rounds had a darker brown circle in the center of them, so I just used that as a guide and painted that portion of the round. I personally liked the look of leaving a small amount of wood showing around the edge of each round, but feel free to be creative with how much of the surface you paint.

Step 3:
Allow your first coat to dry and after about an hour, you can paint your second coat of chalkboard paint.

Step 4:
Make sure your chalkboard paint is fully dry. (The amount of time it will take to dry depends on how many  coats you painted and what paint you used.) The directions on the chalkboard paint label usually says you are supposed to lightly coat the dried paint with regular chalk to prime it, then wipe it off. I tried that method, but chalk had embedded itself in all of the rough crevices of the wood. If you like the look of faded chalk on the chalkboard, then go for it. I chose to avoid priming the rest of my ornaments. I wrote directly with the chalkboard marker and it seemed to work better for the look I was going for. *Warning: If you are using a chalk marker and wish to redo your writing, you will need to use a damp cloth to clean it off. If you use a paper towel, you will quickly have debris of paper towel fuzz ingrained into the rough places on your round.

Step 5:
Feed the ribbon into the hole at the top of your ornament and tie the ends into a knot or a bow. If you’d like to, you can tape a piece of regular white chalk onto the back of your ornament with Washi tape.

*For those who are interested in finding the red bags or sheet music wrapping paper, I purchased both at Hobby Lobby.