Eeeee! I’ve been saving bread tags (those little plastic clips that keep your bread bag closed) for months just waiting for Halloween to get close. I’ve had this craft idea for these little monsters in my head for a while and finally got the chance to make them today. You could probably make them in much simpler fashion, but I love adding little details, embellishing, etc. So here’s how I made these recycled bread tag monsters if you are interested :)
UPDATED 12/21/10 – Just a quick update to add in here that I have posted a how-to for recycled bread tag snowmen if you are interested in seeing those. Below is a pic. :) Great for Christmas gift bags!
| Recycled bread tag snowmen |
Now on with the monster tutorial!
First I painted them with acrylic paint. I didn’t even put paint into the palette because only a small amount of each color is needed. I just shook the bottle and removed the lid, then stuck my paintbrush into the lid to get some paint. Most of my bread tags were white, but I did have a red one and left that one as is.
While the paint was drying, I sketched out some monster faces.
Then I started embellishing. I used a toothpick for some of the small lines, like this monster’s mouth…
and for the marks on this monster’s sides.
I dipped the handle end of a paintbrush into the paint to make the eyes and any polka dots. For really tiny polka dots and some of the pupils I used a toothpick.
On this one I used a Sharpie marker to draw on toes, then used a toothpick to fill in the toes with paint. A monster manicure!
I did finish them off with some sealer spray too, to keep the paint from rubbing or peeling off.
I’ve heard these make decent rubber band holders.. hmmm.
Is it just me, or does that yellow one remind you of Spongebob??
You like? I like! Fun!! :) Thanks for looking!
I actually am updating this post to include this fun treat bag! See that little guy in the bag? He’s one of many monster brownies I made on my cooking blog. Fun!
Here’s some more colorful Halloween crafts from me:
Halloween Painted Jar Luminaries
Monster Treat Bags
Juice Box Monsters
Halloween Felt Ghouls
Monster Brownies
More fun projects around the internet:
Bread Tag Jazzy Jewelry from FaveCrafts
Bread Tag Pendant on Flickr
Craft Ideas using old bread tags – from Thrifty Fun
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so cute! I wish I would have saved my tags all this time :)
Amanda – absolutely adORable!!!!! Soooo creative – love, love, love it!
Thanks so much for planting your creative seeds at Plant a Punkin Seed Party.
Hugs,
Kristi
Punkin Seed Productions
What a fun idea! I have a stash of bread tags because I like to thread them on ribbon and use rub-ons to turn them into scrapbook embellishements. Yours have so much detail and are a lot more work than I originally thought they might be. I thought you used paint pens which I find easier for detail work so brushes would make it a lot tougher for me to control and get the job done. Would love you to join me at A Crafty Soiree, every Thursday.
so cute! I never save bread tags – Im going to start now lol
Okay, how stinkin' cute are those!!!
http://www.makingmemorieswithyourkids.blogspot.com
Oh what a great idea! I never would have come up with that! This would be a fun Halloween project to do with my daughter:)
So cute! You do have such a creative eye!
Very creative and SO cute!! Wouldn't have thought of that ever. Now I will look at them differently when I open bread :)
Those are hilariously clever! Nice…
I love your little monsters a lot! I wish I had some of those tags kicking around so we could make some!
.. via SNS
They are super cute! Nice job! :)
Amanda, these are SO adorable!!! I love that you don't have to pay a dime. Recycled projects are the best!! But checking out your sidebar, you have a TON of cute Halloween projects!! Man o man, I am craft coveting!!
~Alison
I never, never, NEVER would have thought to do those! They are so cute, I mean, Manly!!!! Totally fun idea. I'm loving all your monster ideas lately!
Hysterical I love it!
I LOVE these!!!!!! I save mine and rarely ever re-used them. I am sooooo going to make some. They would also make really cute magnets.
Oh my gosh.. Are these the funniest, and yet the CUTEST little monsters I've ever seen?!! I LOVE these!!!… Have a great weekend! ~tina
Found you by way of tatertots and jello and just had to check these out. SOOOOO clever and adorable! I can't wait to try to make my own. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you all soooo much for the kind comments! I really appreciate it :) been meaning to make these for a while now.
Katie – good idea to use paint pens. I don't use them that often, have always used paint, but I'm sure that would work great!
Alison – Thanks! Halloween is my favorite crafting holiday of all time. Sooo fun to get creative with monsters, ghosts, pumpkins, etc!
Michelle – Thank you! More monster ideas to come before Halloween gets here :)
Kristy – yes cute magnets, good idea!
Awesome! I love them! Thanks for sending me a link. You should link these up with my fall frenzy linky party going on. (link is on my sidebar) my readers would love them!
Happy crafting!
Linda
These are so so so cute and ingenious!!! I have lots of bread tags saved, but ours over here look a bit smaller than yours…might still work though!
Silly me…just noticed that you used bigger and smaller ones!
Those are so cute!
Hahaha, they're TOO CUTE! I love that idea…never would have thought of that!! :)
Visiting from "Sunday Showcase…"
So cute, I love them! I always save mine for re-use with frozen veggie bags, but now you've got me thinking! These might make cute magnets too. I'm a new follower from SNS.
I'm your newest happy follower. http://moogieland.blogspot.com/
this is just toooo cute!!! :) Thank you for the idea. Now I'll be saving those bread tags. :P
Thats adorable, love it!!! Saw you at Sunday Showcase, thanks for sharing!
Wow, so clever!!! I just love them!
Cindy
These are SO CREATIVE! I love them! Thanks so much, I'll be linking.
Love them, Amanda!
Very cute! I love this idea!
OMG! I so have monsters on the brain for our Halloween Monster Bash, and who would have thunk those annoying tags (ours are always getting lost once they come off the bag) could be so cute!! Maybe we won't lose them now….
Oh.my.gosh.
I didn't even know what they were till a couple of pictures down.
How stinkin' cute!!
I love them!!
These are so fun & cute, Amanda! You always have the greatest ideas.
simple and Brilliant as usual Amanda! Thanks so much for all the great links on this week's Craft Schooling Sunday!
WOW – so adorable! And to think I just mindlessly throw these away!
These are absolutely adorable….now, just need to find some bread tags-all mine have come with twisty ties lately. Great project!
These are tooo cute, how very creative. ALthough I noticed so many of your projects are way awesome. Im so happy to have found you, and look forward to spending some time checking out your blog in more detail. If you are interested in adding one more party to your list, I would LOVE to have you link up to mine, and share your talent. Hope to see you soon!! Bella :)
Adorable!
These are great!! Now where did I put that bag o' googly eyes!!?
these are SO cute… come on over and link up to MMM!
amanda! genius idea. i am always feeling badly when i recycle those bread tags. i hope you link these cuties up at a crafty soiree on thursday (-:
OMG! Love these tags! So unique!!! Love your blog… found you via Craft Gawker. Would love if you stop by SewWoodsy.blogspot.com
Wow wow wow! These are the coolest things I've seen in ages! Instant new follower here!
Those are ADORABLE! How creative.
So cute! What a great idea!
So cute! I would have never thought to do this! Thanks for sharing such a cute idea. ;)
Hi Amanda! I featured these today on my blog. Thanks for the inspiration! Here is the link:
http://oopsey-daisy.blogspot.com/2010/09/wednesdays-wowzers-new-favorites.html
~Alison
Thank you all so much for the wonderful comments! I'm so happy everyone thinks they are as fun as I did! :):)
OMG That is like a Sponge Bob Frankenpants! LOL
If you are interested, this craft meets the requirements for my Recycled Halloween Craft Challenge! (You can enter up to 3 entries!) You should totally check it out!
http://henthornehandmade.blogspot.com/2010/08/recycled-halloween-challenge-will-you.html
Super super cute! Love ALL of your halloween crafts!
http://mel-designs.typepad.com/my-blog/2010/09/super-simple-halloween-luminaries-.html.html
http://mel-designs.typepad.com/my-blog/2010/09/super-simple-halloween-luminaries-.html
These. Are. AWESOME.
How original and what a great use of bread tags !
SOOOOOOOO stinkin' adorable!!! :) LOVE IT! I'm so on the lookout for some of these now. Sadly, all the bread we have in the cupboards right now have twist ties to close them.
What a wonderful idea. Those tags make great monsters
looking at all your crafts…you are so creative. now following you.
oh my gosh, these are hysterical! these would be so fun to use for halloween goodie bags!
I made some!!! http://textiles4you.blogspot.com/2010/09/monster-bread-tags.html Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful recycling craft!
WOW so impressive and cute!! I would've NEVER thought of that lol
Love!
These are so cute! This is very creative! Thanks! I linked you to my blog: http://aworldofcrafts.blogspot.com/
the details you put into these are amazing! what talent you have! thanks for sharing.
So cute!
Been looking around your blog some more…you are too crafty!! I so love this!
Thank you everyone for the kind comments!
Wow!! Seriously, there is nothing you can't turn cute!
Thanks Melissa! *blush*
On another note in case anyone is subscribed to the comments, or for those reading this later, bread tags usually aren't on bread anymore. However, they are on many other things like English muffins, bagels, hamburger buns, hot dog buns, etc :)
Just found you, and I'm hooked! By the way, my bread still has bread tags! Perhaps it varies around the country, but we always have tons of bread tags floating around the house.
Hi Lynn, thanks! It's weird how many places don't have bread tags on their bread anymore. Glad you like these!
These are adorable!!! Such a cute idea!
Thanks so much jenn! :)
those are amazing!!! how creative are you?! wow!
libby-bonjour.blogspot.com
Super cute idea!!! Found you at the Sunday Showcase party!
Come check out my blog~
http://haileylanedesigns.blogspot.com/2010/10/puzzle-piece-wreath-and-christmas.html
Those are hilarious! Love it!
Thanks you guys!
Wonderful idea! They are so well done. I think they will make great charms for jewelry. I will link in a future blog post so others can come and check this out. Pearl
http://www.beadinggem.com
Wonderful
OMG such cute projects!!! I'm a follower now for sure thanks for sharing!!!
Thanks you guys! :) :)
Oh these are SO cute! love them!
Thanks so much!
These are absolutely adorable! I was saving my bread tags to do something similar, thinking I was so original. lol You did awesome!
I'm your newest follower from http://fortheluvofboys.blogspot.com
Hi, we don't have bread tags in the UK, we used to a long time ago, but then Health and Safety got involved… Pity, because these are really great!
ADORABLE!!!
Thanks so much you guys!
Love your taggies!! But I left with some yummy recipes. Signed the Recipe Monster :)
Thank you so much Mary!
Just darling! Anyone would be thrilled to have that apprear on their doorstep :)
Thank you Cristie!
Just wanted to let you know I made some of these after seeing them here! My son is having a costume playdate next week, and I thought these would be PERFECT for the goodie bags! LOVE LOVE LOVE THEM! I can't get over how stinki cute they are!
Yours are totally adorable Heidi!!!
This is such a an adorable project! I think it will get kids to concentrate and also let parents work with their kids! I posted this on my FB page!
I really love this idea, I'll start saving some bread tags from now on and use them as a craft activity with my kids soon. Thanks for this great idea.
Oh! My! Goodness! This takes cute to a whoooole nother level!! LOVE LOVE LOVE!!! (yes, I will be finding me some bread tags… SOON!). ;)
How clever are those!!! Oh my goodness! I’m your newest follower!!! I can’t wait to see what else you have on your site. Coming over from Roadkill Rescue….
Thank you Tara!
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These are such a great idea!
I noticed this post word for word on this site:
http://craft-craft.net/halloween-crafts-for-kids-recycled-bread-tag-monsters.html
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Totally love these.
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