Pink and Main Foilable Gift Tag Tutorial | Day 18 Advent Inspiration

Exploring Pink and Main Foilables for Day 18 of the Advent Calendar

Pink and Main Day 18 brought one of my favorite surprises from their Advent Calendar: a set of Foilables Cut Ups. If you have followed my crafting for any length of time, you already know how much I love Pink and Main Foilables and Foilables Cut Ups. They are easy to use, incredibly versatile, and create stunning results with very little effort.

For today’s project, I decided to create a quick and elegant gift tag using one of the floral Foilables Cut Ups along with a sentiment from the same set. While I originally planned to use the sunflower, a small coloring mishap sent me in a slightly different direction—and that turned into a great learning moment that I am excited to share with you.

Coloring Foilables Before Foiling

I began by coloring one of the poppy images before foiling. Foilables have a very glossy surface, which makes blending alcohol markers a little different than working on regular cardstock. The ink tends to sit on the surface longer, so drying time is especially important.

For my coloring, I used:

Olo R 1.5 and R 0.6 for the poppy petals
Olo G 1.8 and G 1.7 for the stem and leaves

Once the image was colored, I set it aside to dry completely. While it dried, I turned on my Minc Machine and allowed it to fully heat up. For my machine, I find setting 3 works best when foiling Pink and Main foilables.

Preparing the Foil and Minc Machine

While the Minc was heating, I selected Gold Cheer Foil for this project. To cut the foil to size, I used a handheld rotary trimmer. It looks a bit like a mini pizza cutter, but it gives me much cleaner edges than scissors and is easier to control when cutting delicate foil.

Before assembling everything, I wiped both the foil (dull side) and the foilable image with an anti-static cloth. This step is important because it removes invisible dust particles that can prevent the foil from adhering properly and cause tiny black dots in the finished design.

Foiling the Image and Sentiment

Once the image was completely dry and the Minc was ready, I placed the foil on top of the image with both “pretty sides” facing up. I made sure the foil fully covered all areas printed with toner ink, then placed everything into the carrier sheet.

I ran the project through the Minc fold-side first. After it came out the back, I let it cool briefly before pulling the foil away in one smooth, swift motion. The results were clean, crisp, and beautifully foiled.

Assembling the Gift Tag

To finish the tag, I die-cut two nested ovals—one from white cardstock and one from patterned paper from my stash. I adhered them back to back so the patterned paper became the front of the tag and the white cardstock formed the back.

I attached the foiled image and sentiment to the front, punched a hole at the top, added string, and the gift tag was complete. Simple, quick, and perfect for gifting.

A Coloring Mishap Turned Learning Opportunity

Now let’s go back to the sunflower I mentioned earlier. The issue came from not allowing the alcohol markers to dry fully before foiling. The image was still slightly tacky when I added the foil and ran it through the Minc.

That tackiness acted like adhesive, and because transfer foil sticks to anything sticky, I ended up with some unintentional over-foiling. While the result was still pretty, it was not what I originally intended. However, it led to a deeper understanding of how transfer foils behave.

Understanding Transfer Foils: Heat vs. Adhesive

Toner Ink – Heat Needed

When toner ink is heated, it essentially melts, allowing the foil to adhere.

Things to try:

Pink and Main Foilables
Poly Glaze from Gina K
Color Toner Sheets
Printing at home using a toner printer and very smooth cardstock
Glaze gel pens for hand-written sentiments that can be heat foiled

Adhesive – No Heat Needed

Transfer foil also sticks to adhesive without heat. All that is needed is pressure, which can be applied using a Minc on no-heat or a die cutting machine.

If using a die cutting machine, be sure to use clean, unmarked plates. Scratched plates will leave impressions in your foil—although those marks can be used intentionally for a cracked or antique look.

Things to try:

Adhesive transfers from Pink and Main
Double sided tape
Pixie Spray (use sparingly)
Transfer gels such as Deco Foil Duo, or Fuse Foiling Gel
Tacky glue applied with a fine-tip bottle or through a stencil (clean stencils immediately)

Final Thoughts

The possibilities with transfer foil are truly endless. Each experiment teaches you something new, and sometimes a mistake opens the door to a technique you may not have discovered otherwise. I encourage you to try different methods, surfaces, and adhesives to see what works best for you.

What foiling technique or product are you most excited to try next, or have you discovered a foiling “happy accident” that turned into a favorite technique? I would love to hear about it in the comments.

Supply List

Pink and Main Day 18 Foilables Cut Ups (Advent Foilables are Sold Out)
- Alternate Foilables Cut Ups – Precut images
- Alternate Foilables
Mini Minc Machine
Gold CheerFoil – Transfer Foil
Anti-static cloth
Olo Alcohol markers
Layered oval dies
Patterned paper
White cardstock
Handheld rotary trimmer
Die cutting machine
Carrier sheet
String or twine

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