What do you do with little scraps of left over ribbon? I've been playing and made some gift tags and card toppers.

Some of the ribbons I used to make these were provided by Pandahall.com

I hate throwing away anything I think might "come in" for something and ribbon is no exception. I have a box full and try my best to keep it tidy and organised, you can see how here. I have my friends and work colleagues well trained and they save me those little ribbons that come on new tops once they have snipped them off. I use them mostly on cards and for making little bows. (I got very excited once about a very easy way to make tiny bows on a fork)

Today I’m showing you another easy and pretty way to use those little short scraps of ribbon that you may have hanging around.

To make a ribbon gift tag you will need:

• Ribbon - old and new (the wide ribbon with stars is from Pandahall.com, the rest is from my stash)

• A greeting cut from an old greeting card

• A little metal eyelet and eyelet setter - mine is this one from Fiskars

• Good dressmaking scissors, and regular scissors.

Trim the message from the old greeting card (or print or write your own on a piece of card)

Don't use your good dressmaking scissors for this bit!

This will decide the best lengths to trim the rest of your ribbons.

My words were 9cm (3.5") so I trimmed my ribbons just a little longer varying the lengths. If your ribbon is very fray-ee you could use some fray check liquid or a flame (BE VERY CAREFUL!) to seal the edges but I didn't. 

Punch a hole in the card message.

Cut a little hole in each ribbon towards one end - This is where you want to use your good sharp scissors - I just folded the ribbon over and snipped a tiny v shape. I tried to punch holes in the ribbon with the eyelet setter but it just didn't work for me.

Working from the front, insert the eyelet into the card then the lengths of ribbon and then use the eyelet setter to set the eyelet.

Use as a gift tag like this:

Or turn it into a card topper, I punched two holes in each card and set an eyelet in the higher hole.

I found I'd saved some printed ribbon that came with some birthday flowers .

I tried stamping onto ribbon too which worked pretty well. I just used a regular stazon ink pad.

I quite like the ribbons on a card without words too.

If you don't have an eyelet setter you could just make holes and thread thin ribbon through, or use split pins. I quite like the smart, polished look the eyelets give it though.

Have fun, experimenting!

I've barely made a dent in my ribbon stash but now I'm thinking these might be cute in reds, greens and golds for Christmas gifts and cards. It's probably not too soon to start..... 

I'll be linking up this project at these lovely link parties