Gift Bag Ideas

Don't bag the wrapping, wrap it in a bag! You'll find a huge variety of beautiful, cute, and funny gift bags in all types of gift stores. One of the keys to making your bag work is choosing an appropriate filler. You might want to make your own filler out of shredded crepe paper or several colored sheets of tissue paper. There are tools you can buy that will shred and crumple paper for this purpose. Colored saran wrap is also a good choice for filler. If you're not interested in making the filler, you can buy bags of it in craft or party stores. For example, I bought colored, crimped tissue strands to place in a matching bag. The colors complemented the country-style stenciled vase I was giving to a friend.

If you really want to get creative, you could make your own gift bags by using plain white or brown bags found in a craft store and decorating them with stamps or paint. This would be clever wrapping for a gift of stamps, stamp pads, art paper, and cards with envelopes. See the following directions for making a reusable gift bag from material.

Sponging It On

A variety of sponge shapes and some craft paint can transform a plain paper bag into a lovely gift bag. After you're finished with the bag, try making homemade wrapping paper using the same technique on brown or white craft paper.

Time frame: One to two hours

Level: Easy

What you need:

• Paper tote bag
• Dark-colored spray paint (optional)
• Craft paint
• Paper plate or foam tray for paints
• Sponge shapes
• Curling ribbon
• Scissors for curling the ribbon
• Tissue paper or shredded crepe paper

1. If you're using a recycled commercial shopping bag for this project, you'll have to spray out the printing on the bag with dark-colored spray paint and allow it to dry before stamping. Dark blue or green would work well. Then choose lighter colors for your sponges. Otherwise, you could purchase a plain, ready-to-decorate bag at a craft shop for under a dollar and save the cost and time of the spray paint step.
2. Place about ¹⁄₄ cup of paint on your tray in a small pool. Dip one side of the sponge shape into the paint and press the painted side onto the bag. Continue stamping different designs in a pattern on your bag. Start at the front of the bag, allow it to dry, and then proceed to the back of the bag.
3. You could do rows of shapes, circles of shapes, or random shapes; use your imagination. They all look nice!
4. Allow your bag to dry thoroughly and decorate the top with curling ribbon in colors that match the stamped shapes. Use scissors to curl ends of the ribbon. Fill your bag with crumpled tissue paper or shredded crepe paper in a matching color.

Under the Sea

Here's a gift bag that's easy to make and can be reused by the kids for hours of fun.

Time frame: Two to three hours

Level: Moderately easy

What you need:

• Gift bag
• Ruler
• Scissors
• Blue foam sheet (found in craft stores, trademarked Flexi-foam or Fun Foam)
• Glue gun, tacky glue, or foam sheet glue
• Package of foam sea animals (found in major craft stores)
• Blue raffia bow
• Tissue paper filler

1. Measure the width of the front of your bag. Cut three waves out of the blue foam sheet. Make the waves as long as the width of the bag and about three inches tall.
2. Using a glue gun or tacky glue, glue the three equally spaced waves across the bag, gluing only the bottom edge and side edges of the waves. The top should be open to allow insertion of sea animals. If you have a larger bag, you could include more waves of animals.
3. Insert the foam sea animals into the waves. Make a bow out of the blue raffia and attach it to the handle. Fill the bag with tissue paper.

Simple Stitchery

You can wrap your gifts and save the environment at the same time by making reusable material bags for the presents you'll exchange. Just follow these simple directions:

Time frame: Two to four hours

Level: Moderately difficult

What you need:

• Material (can use assorted fabrics, burlap, or felt)
• Thread
• Sewing machine
• Iron and ironing board
• Rope or heavy cord
• Pins
• Large safety pin
• Trims, buttons

1. Cut the material into different-size rectangles. I'd recommend making two sizes of bags to accommodate large and small packages. I used material that's 22 x 36 inches and 16 x 32 inches. You'll need one rectangle for each bag you make.
2. Fold the material in half with the right sides of the material together. Use the folded edge as the bottom of the bag and stitch up the two side edges using a ¹⁄₂-inch seam.
3. Using an iron, press a ¹⁄₄-inch seam around the top of the bag toward the wrong side of the bag. Fold this pressed edge down again to the wrong side of the bag, forming a one-inch casing along the top. Press the casing down and pin it in place to prepare for sewing. The pressed casing should be seen on the wrong side of the material (which at this point is on the outside since it hasn't been turned right side out yet).
4. Stitch the casing, using a ¹⁄₄-inch seam around the bottom of the casing. Leave a two-inch opening on one side of the side seams to insert the cord. Reinforce the stitching at the opening by reversing over the original stitching.
5. Cut a piece of cord for the drawstring that is double the width of the bag plus eight inches (for the larger bag, approximately 48 inches; for the smaller bag, approximately 40 inches).
6. Secure a pin on the end of the cord and thread the cord through the opening, around the casing to the other side. Tie a secure knot in the two ends of the cord. Do not resew the opening because the cord will be pulled through the hole.
7. Turn the bag right side out. Sew rickrack or a lacey trim along the top of the bag under the casing, being careful not to sew the top opening shut. Sew some buttons on the bag for decoration or draw a simple design on the front using fabric paint.

Excerpted from The Complete Idiot's Guide to Making Great Gifts © 2001 by Marilee LeBon. All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. Used by arrangement with Alpha Books, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

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