I have another easy gift idea for a classroom Christmas gift! The punny INK-redible pen holder tag.
Every year I come up with small inexpensive gifts for my kids to give to their classmates. They also double up as the perfect gift for teachers to give their students!
One of my go-to gifts is to find some character or scented pens/pencils. To keep it different each year, I make a new printable Christmas tag to hold them in.
Christmas aligns with the end of the school year for us, so it’s always a nice way to finish the year off. If your school year ends in the middle of the year, you can still use these fun pen tags.
My eldest son loves gifting funky pens and pencils. Only because he’s getting older, they have to be ‘cool’ and not cute.
He put me to the test, but (I think) I delivered. At least he seemed pretty happy with them, but it’s hard to tell with tweens!
Campbell has his Mom’s same terrible sense of humor so the puns in the phrase ‘I hapPEN to think you are INKredible’ were perfect for gifting pens.
If you want, you can purchase the customizable digital file for the INKredible tag in my Etsy store. If you want to see more pics or learn how I put mine together then keep reading!
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Table of Contents
Why a Christmas Pen Gift is so Simple!
The festive season can get chaotic and expensive. Trying to find an easy solution for gifts that you need to source cheaply and en masse can be tricky!
That’s why I love a Christmas pen gift or even a glow stick gift. It’s easy to get different pens and create a new tag.
I have created many of these for my kids like these Cool Skateboarding Santa pen tags; my Bright Glow Stick Tags; colorful year Christmas Crayon Cards; or even these cute koala StuPENdous Christmas pen gifts.
If you want to save yourself time and use the digital download I’ve created, the design and cute little saying have been done for you. All you need to do is edit this tag with your personal details.
You then download, print, and cut your holder. I will go into more detail below on how you can do that. It is such a simple and creative gift you can make at home.
For the INKredible tags, I purchased some scented pens from Smiggle. I often like to look to KMart and Amazon too for some fun finds.
In the past, I’ve also used Mario Brothers, Harry Potter, Squishmallow, and sequin Christmas character pens for these types of projects.
You can also source your pens or pencils from a discount store, department store, or online. I found a few cute styles of pens you might like:
Novelty Christmas Pens & Pencils
Buy Now → 
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Buy Now → Colorful Novelty Pens & Pencils
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Rainbow Glitter Galaxy Pencils
Buy Now →
Buy Now → 
Buy Now → 
Editing Your Printable Christmas Tag
You can purchase the INKredible pen holder tag from my Etsy store as an editable digital file.
The process is easy. Once you have paid for the item, you will receive an email from Corjl with access to your purchase. This is the free online software my customers use to personalize their files.
You can edit the file on a computer, tablet or mobile device. I do always recommend editing on a computer as you will have access to more editing features.
However, if all you want to do is change the text, move, resize or delete it then tablet/mobile devices are all you need.
You can even create as many tags as you like with an individual message/name for each one! (Keep in mind you can only do this on a computer and not a device.)
If your end of school year isn’t at Christmas, that’s no problem. You can simply remove the ‘Merry Christmas’ text from the template.
I have a demo link to the pen tag that you can visit. I find these demo links really help customers, especially those who aren’t sure of the editing process.
The demo allows you to play around with the design and see the editing process prior to purchase.
If you want to create multiple tags, you will need to do this prior to download. You’ll find the ‘duplicate pages’ icon will handle this for you.
Once you have made your changes, you now need to download your tag. I’ll go into that below…
What File Option Do I Download?
To determine which file type to download, you will need to decide how you’re going to cut out your tags. The easiest way is to use a cutting machine like a Cricut.
You can also use scissors or a paper trimmer. I have mostly used a paper trimmer however since getting a Cricut I have now also used this method. I hope to have a tutorial for you soon but I will give you a quick run down below.
Back to your cutting choice: Cricut or Paper Trimmer/Scissors (manual)?
MANUAL CUTTING:
If you’re cutting your classroom Christmas gift tags manually, then you will need to download the file as a PDF. You can include multiple tags to fit on one page, saving you on paper.
CUTTING WITH A CRICUT:
If you’re using a Cricut then you may like to make one more edit to the file before you download it.
I have included ‘cut’ lines on the tag for manual cutting. On each tag you will cut two slits to slide the pen into.
However, if you’re using a Cricut you will be using the print-then-cut feature.
It’s really a personal preference however you may not want to print the cut lines. This is why I have made them removable in the editable file.
As an alternative, to ensure you line up the cut lines on your Cricut, download a file with and a file without the cut lines. You can then use the file with cut lines as a guide later.
So the actual file you will need to download for the Cricut print-then-cut is a PNG image file.
Assembling Your Classroom Christmas Gift
Once you have downloaded your file, print your tags on your home computer. You can also take them to a print store if you prefer.
For my pen tags, I use smooth bright white paper, around 200gsm thickness. I find this paper flexible enough to fit pens and pencils through but still firm enough to hold them.
If cutting your tags manually, you will see two cut lines on each tag. These are the slits to cut and insert the pens through.
USING A CRICUT:
I don’t have a tutorial on this as yet. At the time, I was pretty new to my Cricut and wanted to try this technique a few times before making a tutorial about it!
If however you’re a whiz on the Cricut and are familiar with the print then cut feature, you won’t have any trouble with this.
I uploaded the PNG file to Cricut Design Space. Then created two basic cut lines for the pens to go through. I used the print-then-cut feature to make this process quick and easy.
Fun Christmas Pen Tag Holder
You do hapPEN to be INKredible and I hope this cute classroom Christmas gift pen idea has saved you some time this festive season!
My kids love handing these out year after year. Even when I ask them if they want something different, they love selecting new pens/pencils for their classmates.
These tags aren’t just great as friend gifts but also for teachers to give to students; gift baskets; neighborhood gifts; or as part of a gift for all of the nieces and nephews.
I’d love to know your favorite way to save time and money with gift-giving at Christmas. Drop me a comment below!
Other Resources You May Like:
FREE PRINTABLE: 80 Bored Jar Ideas
FREE PRINTABLE: Family Spring Cleaning Bingo Game
ARTICLE: Christmas Glitter Crayon DIY Gift for Classmates
ARTICLE: Skateboarding Santa Student Gift Tags
FROM MY SHOP: INKredible Printable Pen Holder Tag
