Tag Display

I have been making and swapping tags for years.  Some find their way into journals, some on scrapbook layouts, some are pinned to my inspiration boards, and some are currently dangling from the ceiling of my studio.  And yet, with all that, I still literally have hundreds that I have yet to save and display effectively.

Then a very talented ATT member posted a tag tree that she'd constructed and all sorts of lightbulbs went off.  Click HERE to be taken to France's blog to see her beauty.  And to have any clue as to what I'm talking about below, LOL.

Now, France used a piece of wood and I'm an apartment dweller without access to a wood pile.  I'm also impatient and of the "use-what-you-have" school of thought.  Also, attaching the tags to the binder rings on their vertical side means the additional step of putting some plastic material on the backs of the tags.  Remember, I said my tags number in the HUNDREDS.  I wanted a way to display them using the one hole on the top without having to do anything else to them.  And I LOVE France's idea of using Tim's 2-ring binder.   I looked around, and here are the basic supplies I pulled out to use:

I have an 8x8 piece of sturdy chipboard, one of the large 2-ring binders (they attach with two brads), and one of those little wooden display easels.  I'm skipping over the step where I covered the chipboard with decorative paper.  (I used Tim's and covered both sides.  Honestly, I could have left it plain as the tags pretty much cover the chip, but I wanted it to look finished.)  Then I simply poked holes on the top and attached the binder with the brads it comes with.  The binder rings are spaced perfectly apart to hold two stacks of tags.

And here are some (too dark....sorry!) pictures of the completed project, with the chipboard on the easel:

See how easily the tags flip over so you can view them one by one:

This is kind of a prototype.  I'm only sorry the rings on Tim's binder aren't larger, so I could fit even more tags on the display.  I am now thinking of taking one of my old school looseleafs apart and making a really big display that just might hold ALL of my wonderful tags.  I also haven't glued the chipboard onto the easel, and I think I should so it's more stable.  But right now I have it on a table and it doesn't take up much space and shows off my tags just wonderfully.  For those without table space, I think it could also be hung from a wall (minus the easel, of course) and taken down for better viewing.

Many thanks to France for inspiring me.  My tag solution doesn't resemble hers at all, but I wouldn't have come up with mine without first seeing what she did.  Right here, this is one of the main reasons I love to blog and to visit blogs.....the sharing of ideas.