DIY Custom Earring Cards and Hang Tags

I’ve gotten a few questions at shows about our earring cards and hang tags – where I get them, if they’re expensive, how I do it, etc. It’s a small project that adds a lot of impact to the display table, so I wanted to share this project with the craft community.

Our tags are made from standard business cards with a vertical orientation. The basic layout took a lot of trial and error (and scrap printer paper) before I was happy with the location of the text and logo in relation to the center line where the fold will be. The blank space on the front of the card is for the name or description of the piece, and I added a spot for the price. When these are used as earring cards, I punch holes in this area (more about that later.) The back, which is upside down to allow for folding, has our website address and more blank space. This is where I usually write the “ingredient list” for the piece (types of stones and metals, etc.); for earrings, the hanger adheres here.

If you’re designing your own, now is the time to make sure that your final electronic file is high-resolution and adheres to your printer’s specs. If not, you could end up with blurry/grainy prints, off colors, or misaligned text. If you’re printing them yourself, make sure to do a test run on scrap paper at draft quality before you print to card stock to test alignment and clarity.

The first thing we do when the cards arrive from the printer is score them all down the center. I am fortunate enough to have a paper cutter with a scoring blade — we set up a small jig on that so we don’t have to check alignment on every card and run them through while watching a movie or listening to NPR. Scoring is not a requirement, but it makes the folding process much easier. We store the scored cards in the box they were shipped in and only fold them as needed.

We use these as hang tags in two different ways. For necklaces and most bracelets, we fold the tag around the section of the piece with the clasp and staple it at the top. This allows us to slide the tag sideways a bit and undo the clasp for removal without damaging the tag if someone wants to try it on. We sometimes punch a hole in the top center for hanging on our re-purposed fireplace screen rack. For smaller bracelets, our sun catcher ornaments, and other miscellaneous pieces, we use another scrapbooking tool — a glue dot roller — to stick the two halves together. We punch a hole in one of the top corners and thread it with a piece of ribbon, string, or (for the ornaments) beading wire that is tied or crimped to the product.

For the earring cards, the same folding-and-glueing procedure applies. We then use another jig (a piece of card stock with pre-measured holes punched) to punch parallel holes for the earring wires to go through. Our first few tries (as you can see here) weren’t always straight, but that’s okay. We’re handcrafters. After the holes are punched, we adhere clear plastic…thingies (?) made specifically for this purpose to the back of the cards. I order them from Land of Odds, but I’m sure you can find them elsewhere. These plastic doodads allow the cards to hang from any standard earring rack.

Since I know I left out specific tools above, here is a close approximation of what we’re using to make the cards (these are not affiliate links):

• 1/8″ hole punch (for hole at top of cards and for tying to merchandise)
• 1/16″ hole punch (for earring wire holes)
• 1/2″x1″ plastic earring card backers
• Permanent adhesive glue dot roller
• Paper cutter with scoring blade

Overall, this project takes a fair amount of time and effort, but it’s worth it for the consistent branding it brings to your merchandise.

Of course, if you need some help with the graphic design, or if you’d like to outsource the whole project, we can help with that, too.

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