I had to wrap a few Christmas presents the other day for an early Christmas party. I went to my wrapping box to find all my bag were the wrong size one way or another, and plus,I just wasn't feeling the shinny "commercially" look to the ones I had. So, I decide to make my own!!
I looked around my craft room and found bits and pieces of former projects and put together these SUPER cute (or at least in my opinion SUPER cute) bags.
Then I thought.... A lot of my friends, like us, are on a budget and these are so cheap to make, they look adorable & they have a personal touch... maybe I should do a tutorial.
So... here it is. My very first tutorial. I hope you all like it!
- a brown paper bag (any size will do). I got mine awhile ago at Sam's club for $8 I got 500 (that's a lot of gift bags!)
- Coordinating scraps of Christmas paper
- Scraps of fabric
- twine (optional. I'll explain in a min.)
- hole punch, & paper cutter
- Some sort of paper glue. I use Zip Dry Paper Glue (Be careful w/ this stuff it smells so strong! Keep the cap on if you don't want a major headache.)
Step One:
Take your paper scraps & lay them flush against your bag. Line up on side w/ the bag, and then mark on your paper where the bag ends.
Step Two:
Use your paper cutter to cut the paper where your two lines are.
Step Three:
Rip your paper. Yep. I said to rip it. It's one of my favorite scrapbooking techniques. Just tear ever so gently along the TOP edge of your paper. Both pieces.
**Note: You could use some ink, or chalk to further decorate your pages. That would be super cute, but I didn't do it.**
Step Four: Gluing.
Glue your bottom piece first. I glued mine about 1/3 to 1/2 of the way up the bag. Then glue your next piece over it. Make sure you line it up with the bottom so it isn't too short & shows the bag, or too long and won't stand upright. You could also at this point embellish the bag with jewels, brads, etc...
Step Five: Open it up and fill it! The paper glue is fast drying so you should be able to do this after a few moments. At this point fold the top over and hole punch two holes.
Step Six: Cut your fabric into strips. You only need one strip per bag approx 18" long & 1/2" to 1" wide. The thinner the strip the better it will go thru the holes.
Feed your strips front to back through the holes, then cross them and feed them back through the opposite holes so it looks like this. Having the middle strip of fabric allows you to tie on an ornament or cookie cutter like I did and not have it be on the bow. So, tie your item to it (if you want) with the twine, I used a quilters knot so they wouldn't fall off. Make sure to trim the twine moderately close to the knot and then maneuver it behind the fabric (so you don't see the knot).
Step Eight: Tie a bow. I used a square knot on the ones that had ornaments & the ones that were plain I tied a bow.
These are fantastic. I love the idea of using the brown paper bag. You would cringe at my Christmas wrapping, which I just completed today. After seeing these adorable bags I hang my head in shame! Your blog is great. Keep it up!
ReplyDeleteI RECEIVED one of these adorable bags filled with a delightful gift. The whole package was a gift! Thanks, Amy!!
ReplyDeleteAll I have to say is "YOU MAKE ME SICK"....IN A GOOD WAY, LOVE YOU!.
ReplyDeleteADORABLE!!! Thanks for sharing!!!
ReplyDeleteSo I wanted to let you know that for the gifts that the kids in my class give to their parents...we made bags like these to wrap the gifts in! Thanks for the great idea!!!
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