This is it folks, we’re in the final stretch. In about a week, many of us will be celebrating Christmas or Hanukkah. I always have the best intentions during this time of the year—send out 187 handmade Christmas cards by December 1, bake every neighbor on the street a basket full of treats, and complete enough DIY gifts by the 24th to put Santa’s elves to shame.

It’s about this time each year that I realize none of these things is going to happen. I still like to find a quick way to add a unique touch to my store-bought gifts, so I usually turn to personalizing gift tags. The Silhouette Mint™ allows you to create practically any kind of stamp you can dream up, so you can add a custom image or greeting to a stack of cut tags in no time. And I’ve come up with three fun ways to take those quick and simple tags to the next level.

1. Stamp on Faux Leather Paper

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Simple stamped greetings are fine when they look like they’re on vintage leather tags! Why wouldn’t you just print your greeting on faux leather paper? Well, most people would be hard-pressed to find a printer that can feed thick media with printer ink that is also waterproof for the texturizing process.

Once you have created your Mint stamp (click here for a step-by-step video), there is one trick you will need to know to stamp on faux leather paper. Mint ink will run a bit if you wet the faux leather paper to add texture (ask me how I know), so you will need to soak and rough up your paper first.

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When dry, it will be hard to stamp a clean image down onto such a textured surface, so I recommend flipping your Mint stamp upside down and pressing the faux leather paper into the stamp. Using two hands, slowly rub over the surface with one hand while holding the paper in place with the other.

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You won’t achieve a perfectly smooth image, but that’s part of the charm of a vintage-looking tag. Here I’ve stamped a modern “Merry Christmas” in blue Mint ink on white faux leather paper and a retro greeting in black Mint ink on natural faux leather paper.

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This last tag was stamped in grey Mint ink with a custom greeting I created in Mint Studio™ using the LD Elegance Bold and SNF Felicity fonts (click here for a tutorial on creating custom Mint stamps). Of course, I also stamped this greeting on the back of all of my decorative tags too!

2. Heat-Emboss Your Custom Stamped Image

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If you’re a seasoned stamper, you are probably already aware of the beautiful effect you can achieve with heat embossing. Since Mint inks are oil-based pigment inks, they remain wet long enough for you to add embossing powder over your stamped image and melt it with a heat tool.

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The leftmost tag in this photo has just been cut from paper using this design and stamped with my Mint stamp, and it looks great as a clean and simple gift tag. But, look at how adding clear detail embossing powder to the images on the other three tags really helps to emphasize the greetings on busy patterned paper.

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The result is a shiny and raised custom-stamped image, and it is sure to impress!

Tip: Apply an anti-static powder to the paper prior to stamping to prevent stray flecks of embossing powder from sticking to your surface. Ink or chalk the edges of your tag for a finished look.

3. Stamp on Wooden Tags

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Brittany, a member of our Design Team, has shared some gorgeous stamped wood projects on the blog in the past (here and here), and this idea is perfect for quick and easy gift tags with a little something extra. Simply stamp your custom image onto store-bought wooden tags that have been left natural (left) or painted with silver, gold, and rose gold shimmery craft paint to match your packaging.

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I hope I’ve convinced you that it’s not too late to add a quick personal touch (with a little something extra) to those holiday gifts.

How will you use the Mint to customize your holiday packaging?