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You are here: Home / Gift Wrap / Bags / Make Your Own Gift Bags

Make Your Own Gift Bags

By Noreen 12 Comments




By Noreen Doll.

When you make your own gift bags, you can make them any size you need.

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And they can be made from almost any kind of paper.

Gift Wrap

Brown Paper

Newspaper

Magazine Page – for Small Bags

Comics Page

Wallpaper or Wallpaper Samples

Butcher Paper – Let your kids draw on it first.

You can vary the size of your gift bags by varying the size of the box you wrap.

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Several gift bags can be made at one time and then stored flat until needed.

Materials.

Paper

Ribbon or Twine for Handles

Cereal Box or Other Box – the size you want your gift bag to be.

Scissors

Double Sided Tape

Paper Punch

How to Make Your Own Gift Bags.

1. Lay the box on the paper you’ll be using and cut it so the finished size is about 2 inches bigger than the circumference of the box.

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The paper needs to be tall enough to wrap the bottom of the box completely, and to be folded under about 2 inches at the top of the bag.

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2. Lay the box on the paper so that the seam will be in the back or on one side of the bag.

Wrap the paper around the box and tape the side or back seam.

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3. For the bottom, fold the paper in on both sides of the box bottom.

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Then crease the resulting triangle on each side of the bottom flap.

Repeat with the top flap.

4. Fold the top flap over the bottom flap and tape neatly in place.

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5. Remove the box from the wrapping paper.

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6. Fold the top edge of the bag to the inside – about 1 1/2 to 2 inches.

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Crease the top edge.

7. Gently crease all the side corners and the bottom edges so the bag can stand by itself.

8. Cut 2 pieces of cardboard narrower than the top edge of the bag and shorter than the inside flap.

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9. Slip the cardboard pieces between the inside flap on the front and back of the bag and tape in place.

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This will make the top edge sturdier for the handle.

10. Find the middle of the top edge on the bag front and mark about 1 1/2 inch on each side of the center and down 1/2 inch from the top.

Punch holes here for the handle.  Don’t make the holes too big or the knots will pull through.

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Repeat on the back of the top.

11. Cut a 12 inch length of twine or ribbon for each handle.

Poke one end of each handle through the holes and tie a knot so the handle won’t pull back out.

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After securing the handles, the gift bags are ready to use.

Tips

You can put the handles on by pushing the ribbon / twine through from the outside of the gift bag to the inside, and tie the knots on the inside of the bag.

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Or you can push the ribbon / twine through from the inside of the bag to the outside, and tie the knots on the outside of the bag.

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[Miss Lynda suggests putting a piece of poster board in the bottom of the bag to make it sturdier. I would use cereal box cardboard with the gray side up. Thanks for the suggestion, Lynda.]

© Noreen Doll

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Filed Under: Bags, Gift Wrap Tagged With: cereal box, gift bags

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Comments

  1. Lynda H says

    March 21, 2013 at 12:39 pm

    THANK YOU for some excellent directions. I will definitely start saving different sized boxes and create my own gift bags. I would not have thought to put thin cardboard in the top under the fold. GREAT idea. Also, I think a plain piece of poster board in the bottom would help the bag if the gift had a bit of weight. I am so glad I found your ideas on Pinterest.

  2. Conniecrafter says

    March 21, 2013 at 2:59 pm

    Thanks for sharing, I will be looking at boxes in a whole new light now 🙂

  3. Dusty Katt says

    March 22, 2013 at 7:20 pm

    My granddaughters will love these.
    I just stopped by and I’m glad I did.
    Following everywhere. 🙂

  4. J.Rae says

    March 26, 2013 at 5:25 pm

    COOL!

  5. Dita says

    April 18, 2013 at 5:56 am

    What a cool idea. I am going to give it a try. Dita

  6. Suzan says

    May 21, 2013 at 1:33 pm

    I love this-will give it a try. Thanks for sharing.

  7. Andrea says

    November 18, 2013 at 6:34 pm

    I fold down the top edge of the paper ‘before’ I glue the back and bottom. It creates a nice even line around the top. If the other end of the bag doesn’t quite end up evenly it doesn’t matter, as it’s going to be folded and glued to create the bottom of the bag anyway.
    Instead of using two ‘handles’ attached to the front & back of the bag, I use ‘one’ handle from side to side.

  8. Noreen says

    November 18, 2013 at 8:51 pm

    Thanks for the tips – they help make a project better.

  9. Ashley says

    January 22, 2017 at 8:51 pm

    Normal gift wrap is good for making gift bags?

  10. Noreen says

    January 23, 2017 at 4:53 am

    Yes, it is. You don’t want to use the really thin gift wrap paper, though, as it doesn’t work as well and tears easily.

  11. Patty says

    December 15, 2020 at 5:04 am

    I use wallpaper samples from a sample book. The paper is very sturdy, doesn’t need the folded edge with the firm paper.

  12. Noreen says

    January 17, 2021 at 6:56 am

    I’ve used wallpaper samples to make gift bags, too. Unfortunately, it’s very difficult to find wallpaper sample books anymore.

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