DIY Gift Bag

My niece and God-daughter has recently graduated from high school and we are attending her graduation party soon. So I got out my DCWV (Die Cuts With a View) Blossoms & Butterflies stack and made her a gift bag.

First, I took two pieces of 12×12 paper of the same pattern. Then I scored each page. The left sides, right sides, and bottoms were all scored at 2″, then folded.

When all three sides are folded, a square is formed in the bottom left and right corners. I took my scissors and cut from the bottom (on the fold) to the intersecting fold. That makes two 2″ cuts from the bottom. This will create two flaps on the side panels.

Fold the sides in and, using double-sided tape, adhere the two small flaps to the bottom panel (the tape will be in the printed side). The bottom will look like this:

Take the second piece of paper – already scored, folded, and the flaps cut – and fold the sides and bottom in. Add adhesive to the white side of the two long side panels, all the way to the bottom of the paper. Combine this with the other page and adhere the panels to the other piece already completed. The flaps will be adhered to the bottom as well.

Now adhere the remaining bottom flap to the bag, and the basic bag is complete. I decided to add a pair of handles to my bag as well. I raided my daughter’s pencil box and borrowed her protractor. Using this, I traced two handles and cut them out.

Knowing that I wanted to put something in the bag that would be rather heavy, I decided to staple the handles to the bag. However, you could also use your adhesive to do this if your bag will contain something lighter. I had some bee stickers that were the perfect size, so I used them to cover the staples. Since the paper was butterflies and flowers, these were perfect!

Then I added some tissue paper and my niece’s gifts. I can’t wait to give them to her! Oh, I almost forgot… instead of discarding the scraps from the handles, I decided to put them together to make a little gift card holder for part of her gift. I thought it came out cute!

Thanks for taking a look. If you decide to make one of these, please link to yours in the comments!