leather luggage tag DIY

We are headed south to the beautiful island of St. Kitts for a little R&R {can’t wait!} so I decided to make some luggage tags for our trip. These luggage tags will not only help identify our suitcases, but they also look pretty cute. And they are very easy to make. The first one I made took a little longer and I worked out some of the kinks so the following ones were much easier and I breeezed right through them. Kinda like having kids – you learn all your mistakes with your oldest, right?

I’ve always loved the look of the classic leather luggage tags but I wanted to try my own and give them a rougher, more homemade look. I added a monogram on my tags. I love the extra personal touch these add but you can easily leave this step off.

Hopefully you’ll find this project to be a breeze too with these instructions:

materials needed:

leather pieces {I bought this remnants package at AC Moore for $5.99. I love the worn in look of the leather and I also love the lighter, camel color}
scissors or X-acto knife
sharpie
ruler
hole punch {I used a 1/8″}
leather cording {also from AC Moore}
plastic sheet or similar {I cut up a clear file pocket folder}
paper or business card for label
eyelets and eyelet setter kit
acrylic paint, if desired

step 1

Cut 2 leather pieces 4 x 3″

step 2

Cut a window in one of the pieces about 3 x 2.75″. I basically measured in 1/2″ for the left, right and bottom edges and 3/4″ from the top, drew the rectangle and cut the window out. I purposely left a little extra room at the top for the handle.

step 3

Using your hole puncher, punch a hole in the top center of each of the 2 pieces so that the holes line up. Attach the eyelets using the eyelet kit. I love these eyelets and have used them on invitations and several projects in the past. The kit is super easy to use – it just consists of a mini hammer and a anvil-like tool to curl the edges of the metal eyelets.

step 4

Cut a piece of your leather cording to the desired length for your handle. Thread the cording through each of the eyelets and tie a loop knot at the bottom, close to the tag. You’ll need to untie this to insert your label but this is a great way to keep the leather pieces together while you’re working now.

step 5

Mark off the areas for your cording to thread through. I placed holes every 1/2″ along the 2 side edges and the bottom edge. I also learned from the first tag that you should make an even number of holes so that your cording will be tied in the back at both the start and end of the threading. Trust me on this one. Next, punch holes in all the marked areas.

step 6

It’s time to “no-sew” the edges together. Starting from the back of one of the top corners, thread the cording through the holes. Tie a knot in each end – which should end up on the back of the tag.

step 7

Make a label that is a bit bigger than the window {approx. 3.25 x 3″} using any paper you have. Cut a piece of plastic the same size. Remove the handle cording and slide the label and plastic {on top} into the tag. If you want to add a monogram label, go to step 8, if not, skip to step 9.

step 8 {optional}

I added a smaller, single piece of contrasting leather to the top of my tags and painted a monogram on them for a little extra cuteness. I just cut the piece of leather to the size I wanted {1-1/4″ square} and punched a hole at the top, added another eyelet and freehand painted my monogram with acrylic paint. You could also add a cute decoration instead of the monogram. These little embellishments will help you recognize your luggage quickly!

step 9

Tie the handle cord back on and then attach to your luggage. Now you’re ready to travel.

Bon voyage!