Pleasant Projects: Luggage and Diaper Bag Tags

 When our youngest child was diagnosed with a serious food allergy I realized that I was going to need a diaper bag/backpack tag that I could personalize. I needed something that would look official for times when we needed to take our own snacks into places like baseball games and museum snack bars. The tag needed  plenty of room for parent phone numbers, warnings about his allergy, and information about the Epipen and medication in his bag.  I also needed something durable. I have tried several different methods, but this type of tag is easy to make and has met all our needs. It is also lots of fun, allowing room for personalization and creativity! 

Supplies: Self-laminating Pouches(Business card/I.D. card size... I use Scotch brand and find these in the office supply section), paper cutter or scissors, printer, plain paper, and scrap book paper.

I first cut my scrapbook paper background to fit inside the required laminated area.  I cut two of these so that I can have information on both sides of the tag. Next, I make a template for the plain white paper. I print out the information I want on the tag (one for front and one for back),using different colors to highlight important information. I place the template over the printed information and trace around it.    

After cutting out the printed section of the tag, I adhere it to the scrapbook paper background using scrapbook adhesive, doing the same for the backside of the tag. I place the two sides together and stick them together ( again using the scrapbook adhesive).  Now comes the tricky part. Carefully place one side of the tag onto the sticky side of the laminating pouch. This adhesive is not very forgiving! You will need to set the paper down straight and press it down evenly so that the paper does not wrinkle. Personally, I am very thankful that these pouches come in packets of ten.  I rarely get it right on the first try! 

Finally, use your hole punch to make a hole in one of the corners. Now you can use a cute ribbon to attach the tag to your bag, and your project is complete!  

*bow added for the picture...Mr. T. would never allow a bow on his boy's back pack :) 

I have needed to keep our "allergy alert" tag simple and serious looking, but there are several fun ways to dress-up this project.  I have already mentioned using a cute ribbon to attach your tag to your bag. You can also have fun playing with different font styles and colors. Choosing back ground paper also can personalize this project... the supply of different patterns and styles is endless! You can use clip art or scrap book embellishments/stickers to add some decoration. Anything flat will work beautifully! I have never tried it, but I expect that you could also hot glue rick rack or some other sort of embellishment to the outside of the tag. These make wonderful baby gifts, and also will make it easy for you to identify your own luggage or diaper bag in a crowd. Happy creating!

This post is linked at Raising Homemakers , Our Simple Country Life and Far Above Rubies.  I am a few days late in linking these sites because of computer issues, but be sure to check out the great ideas shared by other bloggers!