Free Printable Santa Gift Tags

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Get the free printable Santa gift tags to add to the presents under your tree this Christmas. A small touch that makes Christmas morning feel like it really did come from the North Pole.

Punch a hole in the corner and tie them on with twine or ribbon, or just tape them straight to the paper.

These work as Secret Santa gift tags too, which is handy if you’re keeping the mystery going in a Secret Santa exchange at work or with family.

Handing out gifts to a whole class? Check out my class gift ideas for students for more ways to make it easy.

Want more Christmas printables? My Christmas paper craft bundle has decorations, garlands and gift wrap accessories all in one download.

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Creating A Magical Christmas For Your Family

When you are a child, you think there could be nothing more special than Christmas.

That’s until you become a parent and get to see the same joy on your own children’s faces. It is such an incredible feeling.

Becoming a parent myself had me thinking back to my own childhood. My parents were exceptional at keeping the Christmas magic going for as long as possible.

They didn’t do anything overly unique or special, but they managed to never slip up on the true identity of Santa either.

We did cookies and milk on the table each year, and each Christmas day we woke to nothing but crumbs and an empty glass. They somehow managed to sneak out after I was in bed and load up the lounge room with gifts.

Our lounge room was covered in big wrapped boxes of all shapes and sizes and our stockings were bulging. To this day I still don’t know where mum stored all those things.

That’s not even to mention the year they built a trampoline and swing set in the backyard overnight. I was so amazed by Santa and his effort of getting those in the backyard. How on earth did they fit on the sleigh?

The funny thing was I was the only kid in the house by then. My brother still lived at home but was in his teens or early 20s before he moved out. My sister and her husband would come over for the day, and Christmas was a blast spent with the most amazing feast and swimming in the pool all day long.

Discovering The Truth

Try not to laugh too hard, but I would have been at least 11 by the time I found out the truth about Santa.

Pretty embarrassing I suppose, but kudos to my folks for a job well done. It was in a conversation with a school friend when the tragic news broke.

She made a comment about the big jolly man not being real, and I had to fake my horror and disappointment with a forced “I know”.

But we still played along a bit after that. I still wonder if my brother half believed in his late teens. He was usually up snooping around the presents before I was.

Building Traditions

When our girls were too little to really understand the Santa part of our family Christmas traditions, we still started doing things to build up that feeling of magic anyway.

We are lucky enough to have the traditions from two different cultures forming part of our Christmas celebrations each year, which also means we work harder to keep our kids grateful and humble.

My husband’s family are Polish, which means Santa visits the grandparents’ house on Christmas Eve during the traditional Wigilia.

Then for our Australian tradition, Santa comes while you are sleeping and leaves gifts beneath the tree. We save our gifts for Christmas morning and let their grandparents do the giving on Christmas Eve, via Santa.

We give our girls mostly practical gifts rather than toys, since other family members tend to go for the fun stuff.

And the biggest gift is always from us rather than from Santa, because I’m conscious that other parents may not be able to give as much, and kids shouldn’t be wondering why Santa was far more generous to them than to someone else.

Check out our family Secret Santa tips to cut costs at Christmas.

Protecting The Magic

It can be so hard to keep the belief going when there are so many influences around your children.

Other kids can be cruel, especially if older siblings think it’s a laugh to ruin it for them early. It happens. One of my best friends is dealing with this now, with a child in her son’s class running around telling everyone who Santa really is. He is only 6.

Sometimes these things can’t be avoided, so we do our best to build up the excitement and belief at home.

That means watching Christmas movies together in December, and putting in the effort to move the stinkin elf. Trust me, I’ve forgotten the Elf on the Shelf a few times and have become an expert in elf excuses.

Everything else elf-related, including the free planner, is over in my Elf on the Shelf guide.

More Ways To Keep The Magic Going

• Leave a note from Santa alongside the Christmas Eve box
• Have the elf deliver the gift tags a few days before Christmas
• Use a different wrapping paper for Santa’s gifts than the ones from you
• Write the Santa tags in different handwriting, or get someone else to write them
• Leave a boot print in flour by the tree

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Do you have any special traditions to keep the Christmas magic alive for your kids? Or funny stories about being a late bloomer like me? Comment and let me know.