Yesterday my husband and I went on a date night. We went to one of our favorite restaurants: Houston's! I absolutely adore their traditional salad. It has mixed spring lettuce, tomato, boiled egg, and smoked hardwood bacon and croutons. YUM! I always opt for no croutons and I top it with their mustard honey dressing. As always, I never finish they entire salad because it's so big. We ended up having to take my leftovers home and in true Houston's fashion they put my leftovers in a brown shopping bag donning the name Houston's.
As I woke this morning with my planned craft in my mind, I realized how many brown shopping bags we have and the wheels in my mind began to turn. I thought why not reuse these awesomely durable brown bags as gift bags. We get to help protect our planet and create something fabulous all at the same time.
Let's face it, we all need gift bags at some point and time in our lives. Whether we're celebrating a birthday, an anniversary, or giving a gift just because; gift bags will certainly make an appearance somewhere. By making your own gift bag you can personalize for whomever you're giving it to. Believe me, when they see how much work went into the bag, they'll think twice about tossing it and it will become a cherished keepsake.
Now, on to crafting!!!!
1 Brown Shopping Bag
1 Ruler
1 pair of Scissors
Glue
Pre-Cut Letters (if not, paper to cut whatever letters or numbers you may need)
Scotch Expressions Tape (colors of your choice)
Artificial Flowers
Pearl Appliques
Step 1
Place the Scotch Expressions take over the words on the bag if there are any. There are two ways you can do it. You can either measure the length of the bag and pre-cut the tape or you just place the tape at the top of the bag, hold and roll until you get to the end. Do whatever works for you.
Step 2
Take your flowers and your pearl appliques and place the pearl appliques in the center of the flower
Step 3
If you're like me and you didn't have pre-cut letters, here is where you cut out your letters. You can use a stencil to trace the letters and then cut them. Another way to tackle this task is; if have the wonderfully awesome Cricut just press in the letters or numbers you'd like and let the Cricut do the cutting. The length of the band created by the tape was 2 1/4 inches. I wanted the letters to have sort of a layering affect. To achieve they layering look that I was going for, I cut the purple letters 2 1/4 inches and I proceeded to cut the orange letters to 2 inches.
Note: I kind of changed my mind around this point and time in the craft. I decided instead of just gluing the letters I wanted to add dimension to the letters for more of a wow factor.
Step 4
Place the glue on the letters that measure 2 inches and apply them to each corresponding letter that measures 2 1/4 inches. (I suggest that you set the letters before you glue them together, that way you can make all your mistakes here before you try to adhere them)
Step 5
Adhere your letters and flowers to the selected locations on the bag.
Check out the Houston's Shopping Bag Before coming to our crafting lab.
After
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As you can see this particular bag will be for my wonderful mother! By placing the tape directly over the writing on the bag, you can't even tell that it was ever there. You can make your bag for whomever and whatever event you like. Just remember to personalize it accordingly. Choose whatever colors and materials the bags weight can hold! I hope you enjoy making this craft as much as I did. You'll have the same opportunity to give it to someone special and do your part in protecting our planet. Now if that's not awesome, I don't know what is. So folks, what do you think? We would love to hear your thoughts. You can reply to this blog post or you can tag us on Twitter @TheGiftIsYours or share your pics with us on Instagram @TheGiftIsYours ... Don't forget to #MakeItMonday #ShoppingBagToGiftBag... Show us your Monday Creation!!! As always, if you found this post to be fun, entertaining, helpful or all three; don't forget to share it with your friends!!!!! |