Door tags - All stayed up

Description: These are Doortag ideas that my residents/other staff have appreciated.

Instructions: For the first door dec, I used card stock, Microsoft Word, markers, and chose a font that I thought could be a part of a greater idea. You'll notice that the font is a kind of old time newspaper font - I originally planned to add events and accomplishments in the same font to the door dec.s toward the end of the term. *Note, spacing the names in Word takes some trial and error - do on reg. paper first. Lastly, I used two university-color markers and put 1 dot each for a contemp. art effect and to keep the dec. simple.

It was the beginning of summer term when I thought of the second dec. pictured. I wanted to go with an outdoorsy, leisurely theme. So, I picked up enough magazines with pictures (i.e. Weekend, Southern Living, etc.) cut the medium-sized ones out, and pasted them onto cardstock for firmness. Then, I carefully tore strips from each edge to add a rugged effect. Finally, I painted resident's names with white watercolor to stand out.

The third picture is an example I used for the girl's half of my floor. Differences - flower, homey, warm-feeling theme and didn't tear the edges.

The fourth picture was a little time-consuming but one of the best turnouts. I used cardstock(yet again!), school-colors spraypaints, and alphabet stencils. For each name I arranged the cut out stencil letters, covered one half of the tag, then sprayed. I repeated for the second half with other color. Do outside and let dry for a few hours at least.

Other Considerations: The common mark throughout all of these was, well, thinking of a common interest of all residents. If you can justify your decision without too much stretch of the truth then your idea should work. Also, COLOR brings vibrance and breeds interest. Go to Michael's Arts and Crafts store and wander around to get creative juices flowing!

Also, buy cardstock! It allowed me to do some last minute door dec.s. Watercolors are good to use for names if you have time, while markers work fine.

Chris Gamboa

University of Florida