DIY Festive Gift Bags

Being a Gift Wrapping Specialist it goes without saying that I tend not to use gift bags very often but when I do I either use a gift bag purposely to transport an already beautifully wrapped gift or I hand make my own ‘no peak’ version to conceal a gift prettily wrapped in tissue paper. It’s a great alternative and certainly a firm favourite by the workshop students we teach it to. Of course I recognise this isn’t everybody’s way. Not everyone likes wrapping or knows how to wrap such a variety of shapes and so a gift bag can be a handy quick fix and is reusable, that’s never a bad thing!

However you choose to use them though, one thing’s for sure, at this time of year buying so many of them can be a pretty costly exercise.  So this month we thought it the perfect time to share with you one of our favourite alternatives to the standard ‘shop bought’ bag….Our DIY Festive Gift Bag.

Now don’t panic, it doesn’t have to be at all time consuming (unless you want it to) and it’s certainly very easy indeed (perfect for any age or skill level depending on the materials you’re using). As ever, you just need to be a little bit creative in your thinking but if you’re not confident you are, it’s still doable, just copy ours!  Not only will it save you money but it’s also relaxing too! Think of it as crafting mindfulness! You’ll be more chilled than frosty the snowman by the end of this project and as you’ll not be dashing around the shops searching for ridiculously expensive gift bags you’ll have so much more time on your hands to tick even more jobs off that list!  Oh yes we’ve got this covered (literally)!

So, introducing your this seasons ‘must have’…The humble brown paper bag.

This deceptively basic looking bit of kit is ripe and ready to be transformed into something amazing by your own fair hands and with an approx cost per bag of less than 60p (depending on the quality and size you choose) you’ll make a huge saving on the pre-designed shop bought ones. (The bags we’re using today can be purchased from our onlinestore).

So, how do you transform your bag into something fab? In short, easily! The possibilities of designs are endless. Other than needing a bit of imagination, just raid the stationery drawer or craft basket for inspiration. Buttons, stickers, ink stamps, pom poms, doilies, pens to draw on them…Yes it really is that simple! From traditional to glamorous, whoever you need it for, there’s a way you can personalise it to suit. If they like skiing why not draw on a mountain and ski lift, for kids …Draw a rudolf and stick on a protruding red wool pom pom nose!  No good at drawing, use a stencil, stickers or trace your design.

So, Christmas film on, favourite festive tipple at hand, off you go and enjoy! Here’s just a few we did earlier in less than half an hour.  We could have spent longer on them, made them neater, drawn a masterpiece etc but we simply wanted to give you a starting point for some inspiration and it’s a great example of how quickly you can conjure them up with just a few materials.

Rustic Ginger Bread House

A traditional decorative design that can be adapted to your own style. So very easy to do, using hardly any materials (unless you want to add more!) and not anything like as messy as the real thing with icing sugar (but just as cute!!)

Materials used:  Small Gift Bag, Red Striped Ribbon, White Chalk Marker.

Beautiful Baubles

A simple but effective idea! For the gold themed bag we’ve dotted it with a gold marker pen, then added two gold baubles, these were made from our own ‘party porcelain’ doilies (available online) which were cut to shape and a sticker added to the middle. We’ve then used a white chalk marker pen to draw a squiggly line to look as if the bauble is hanging and tied a co-ordinating gold bow to the handle with ribbon. The black bauble is simply a round sticker and then completed in a similar way to the gold one but using a black marker pen and black ribbon.

Materials used:  Medium Sized Gift Bag, Various Coloured Marker Pens,Ribbon, Stickers,  Doilies.

Merry & Bright

Their day is sure to be ‘Merry and Bright’ when you hand them this pretty bag!  Just use a selection of black and white pens to write your saying,  draw/dot your design onto the bag and then tie with festive red ribbon and that’s it! Gosh this is ridiculously easy. Love it!

Materials used:  Medium Sized Gift Bag, Black and White Marker Pens, Red Satin Ribbon.

Advent or ‘Open me on…’

Whether you have a gift you’d like to give them each day throughout advent or something you’d like them to open on a specific day ie Christmas Eve, this design will fit the bill. We’ve used a stencil as we had one in our craft draw but number stickers, washi tape numbers or free style hand writing would work just as well!

Materials used:  Small Sized Gift Bag, Gold and White Marker Pens, White Satin Ribbon.

And there you have it!  Just a small selection of what is possible, if you need materials just visit our More Pretty Things online store or give us a shout as we may have them in the stockroom but not yet managed to add them online (yes we’re still working on that!) and of course we’ll get them delivered out to you directly so you don’t even have to go out the door! 

And as ever, if you’ve enjoyed our tips and ideas do please feel free to share with friends/on social media so others can have a go too!

Happy Christmas Crafting Everyone!