Made 2 Craft: Gift bag made from 12 x 12 scrapbooking card

Gift bag - instructions to make your own

Hello again :) Hope you've all had a good week. I had a massive panic this week when I had to wrap some gifts but hadn't got a gift bag and I really wanted my friend to feel special on her special day.

So I got my 12 x 12 scrapbooking card out and worked out how to make one! What do you think? I was rather pleased with it and so was my friend (and her kitten - who decided to play in it! - there's some cute photo's at the end of this make).

The finished size of gift bag is quite generous at 19.5cm wide by 10cm deep and 23cm high (not including the handles). Because you've made it yourself, you can make it in whatever colour or pattern paper you have - Christmas, Birthday, Easter or even Wedding.

Follow the below link to find out how to make it.

You will need:

2 x 12"x12” scrapbooking paper of same design and colour (I used 250gram weight card)
1 x 12"x12” scrapbooking paper of complimentary design/colour (I used 250gram weight card) note: If your 2 patterned papers are single sided then you may decide to use just plain white card instead of this 12"x12” complimentary scrapbooking paper.
White card
Paper string or ribbon
Guillotine with cutting and scoring blades
Strong double-sided tape
Ruler
Pencil
Bone folder

Start with your 2 matching 12x12” papers and score both of them from the right at the following intervals – 1cm, 6cm, 11cm

Now score up from the bottom at 7.5cm

Using your pencil, mark the very bottom 7cm from the left side and 7cm from the first score line as per the below image:

You now need to score from the pencil line diagonally to the horizontal line as per the below:

Now fold along all of the score lines and use a bone folder to make sure the creases are sharp. (if you look at the photo in point 6, you can see which way the folds need to go)

Put strong double sided tape along the 1cm section

Stick the left edge of the right piece of card upto the 1cm score line of the other piece of card

You now have to make the flat card into a tube by joining the left hand side to the right hand side along the 1cm score line, making sure your colour card is on the outside.

Turn your tube upside down so that the other folds (that form the bottom of the bag) are now at the top. Fold the left edge inwards along the score line

Fold in the other opposite edge along the score line

Now fold in the two remaining flaps

Turn the bag upside down and press inside the bottom with your hand, against a firm flat surface, to flatten out your folds

When everything has been creased, turn the bag upside down again, open the flaps slightly and put double sided tape on the folds as per the below picture: (don’t put tape where my thumb is as this will show on the inside)

Stick the flap down that my thumb was holding

Then stick down the other flap. Once you have done this turn it over and press with your hand on the inside again to ensure the flaps are sticking

Now cut the following from the complimentary 12x12” scrapbook card (or white card if the inside of your bag is white)

· 10cm x 19cm = inside base

· (4cm x 15.5cm) x 2 =handle holders

Cut 2 (3.5cm x 15.5cm) strips from white card

Cut 2 lengths of paper string (or ribbon) to 40cm each

You should now have these pieces:

Mark with pencil 2.5cm in from both short edges of the white pieces of card

Put strong double sided tape along the long edges of the white card and also along the pencil lines

Stick the ends of one piece of string along the pencil lines

Turn this over and stick to the back of the coloured strip of card (ensure the colour you wish to show on the inside of the bag is facing down and you are sticking the white card to the back

Repeat steps 22-23 for the other handle

Put strong double sided tape around the edge that has the white card showing as per below image

Stick this to the inside of the bag about 0.5cm from the top edge and equal distance along the length

Stick the other handle to the opposite inside

Put double sided tape on the back of the inside base piece of card (cut out in step 16) and fix it to the inside of the bag in the base to cover up the folds.

I made a matching tag to go with my gift bag by cutting out a tag shape out of white card and the complimentary card. I stuck them together, slightly offset. I stamped a greeting on the front and then used the same paper string to tie it to the handle