How Do You Make Personalized Christmas Gift Tags With Kids?
A personalized Christmas gift tag is a small handmade label, decorated by a child and tied to a present, that names the recipient in a way no store-bought tag can.
You make personalized Christmas gift tags with kids by drawing on shrink plastic, baking it until it shrinks into a hard little tag, and tying it to the present with ribbon. The Christmas Shrink Art DIY Craft Kit for Kids ($27.99) turns it into a one-box project: kids design Christmas charms, an adult handles the two-minute bake, and every present under the tree carries a tag no store sells.
Why shrink-plastic tags beat paper ones
Every December the same thing happens in our house. The presents pile up, they all wear the same store-bought tags, and by Christmas morning nobody can tell whose is whose. The kids want to help, but wrapping is a grown-up job, and a crayon scribble on a paper tag tears off before the gift is even opened.
Shrink plastic fixes all three problems. The tag is a real object: thick, glossy, and hard enough to survive under a tree or be kept as a keepsake. The drawing is the child's own, and the shrinking step turns it into something that looks finished. The whole project takes about twenty minutes plus a two-minute bake.
What you need
- A shrink art kit — the Christmas kit linked above covers the plastic, coloring tools, and charm findings in one box.
- Scissors and a single-hole punch.
- Ribbon, twine, or yarn for tying.
- A baking tray lined with parchment paper.
- An oven, and an adult to run it. The kit listing is explicit: adult supervision is required for the baking step. Kids draw and color; grown-ups bake.
The 5 steps
Step 1: Draw it three times bigger than you want it
Shrink plastic shrinks to roughly a third of its original size in the oven, so a tag drawn at finished size comes out the size of a postage stamp. Draw about three times bigger than the final tag you want — for a credit-card-sized tag, draw it the size of your hand. Keep it simple: bold lines and big shapes survive best; fine details blur as the plastic tightens.
Step 2: Color it in and write the name
Colored pencils are the best tool for the frosted side of shrink plastic — they grip the surface and the colors deepen after baking. Markers work too, but test yours first: some bead up on the glossy side, so always color on the frosted side. Write the recipient's name in big letters now, while the tag is large and easy to write on.
Step 3: Cut it out and punch the hole — before baking
Cut around the design, leaving a small margin, and round off sharp corners so they do not poke through wrapping paper. Then punch the hole for the ribbon right now, before the tag goes near the oven. This is the most important step in the whole project: once the plastic has shrunk and hardened, you cannot punch a clean hole in it. Every ruined batch traces back to this step.
Step 4: Bake it (adults only)
Preheat the oven to around 325°F (165°C) and lay the tags colored-side up on the parchment-lined tray, spaced apart. Slide the tray in and watch: the plastic will curl up dramatically, look completely ruined for about thirty seconds, then flatten itself out again. That curl-then-flatten is normal. Once a tag lies flat again, give it about thirty more seconds, then take the tray out. Total time is usually one to three minutes. Let the tags cool on the tray before anyone touches them.
Step 5: Thread the ribbon and tie it on
Once a tag is cool, thread ribbon or twine through the hole and tie it to the present — a short loop for a gift bag handle, a longer piece for a bow around a box. Extras double as ornaments for the tree or a stocking.
3 mistakes that ruin a batch
Punching the hole after baking. The hole goes in before the oven, never after. A tag with no hole is a charm with nowhere to go.
Drawing at finished size. A tag drawn two inches wide finishes at well under an inch. Draw big.
Coloring on the wrong side. Pencils and markers grip the frosted side; on the glossy side they smear and wipe off. If your colors will not stick, flip the sheet over.
Which shrink art kit should you buy?
If you want Christmas tags specifically, buy a Christmas-themed kit. But the wider market is worth knowing:
| Kit | Best for | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Christmas Shrink Art DIY Craft Kit (our pick) | Christmas tags, charms, and keychains in one box | $27.99 |
| Shrinky Dinks Jewelry Kit (Just Play) | Jewelry-making variety, 68 pieces | Price not verified |
| Ooly 28-Piece Shrinking Art Kit | Low-mess beginners, 20 pre-cut charms | $14.95 |
| Bright Stripes Shrinkadoo | Pre-cut designs, 90 pieces | $21.99 |
| Grafix Shrink Film, 50-sheet blank set | Blank sheets for freehand artists | Price not verified |
Christmas Shrink Art DIY Craft Kit — $27.99. Pros: Christmas-themed designs made for exactly this project, and the kit covers charms and keychains as well as tags. Cons: the baking step needs an adult, so it is not fully independent for younger kids.
Shrinky Dinks Jewelry Kit (Just Play) — 68 pieces, ages 5+. Pros: the original brand, with beads, colored pencils, and accessories for bracelets, hair clips, and earrings. Cons: a jewelry kit first — you supply your own Christmas ideas.
Ooly 28-Piece Shrinking Art Kit — $14.95. Pros: 20 pre-cut charms mean almost no scissor work, the easiest first kit for younger kids. Cons: pre-cut shapes limit what you can draw, and the piece count runs out fast.
Bright Stripes Shrinkadoo — $21.99. Pros: 90 pre-cut designs give you the most tags per box, ready to color straight away. Cons: less freehand drawing, and you still need to buy ribbon and findings separately.
Grafix Shrink Film — 50 blank sheets. Pros: fifty blank sheets is the cheapest way to make a lot of tags, with total freedom for freehand artists. Cons: sheets only — no pencils, no findings, no hole punch.
For a family making Christmas tags, the Christmas-themed kit wins on the simplest test: open the box, and you are already making Christmas tags.
Frequently Asked Questions
What age is shrink art good for? Kids who can draw and use scissors can do the design half; the baking step is adults-only, and the kit listing requires adult supervision for it.
How hot should the oven be for shrink plastic? Around 325°F (165°C) for one to three minutes. Watch for the curl-then-flatten moment — once the piece lies flat again, give it about thirty more seconds.
Why did my shrink art curl up and stay curled? It came out too early. The plastic curls, then flattens on its own if you leave it in.
Can you write on shrink plastic after baking? You can, but the writing will be tiny — the whole piece has shrunk to a third of its size. Write names and messages before baking, while the tag is still big.
Do shrink plastic gift tags last? Yes. Once baked, the tags are thick, hard plastic, and they keep their color. Ours from last year are back on the tree this year.
The Christmas Shrink Art DIY Craft Kit is $27.99, and one box makes enough tags for the whole family's presents — plus a few ornaments for the tree.