Hi fellas and ladies! This is Mandi with a useful and fun DIY project for you. I’m constantly packaging goodies for my vintage shop customers and friends across the world, but buying packaging products is expensive and also contributes to environmental waste. I wanted to find an inexpensive and sustainable way to personalize pretty packages without paying for envelopes, tape, and labels. I ended up coming up with a kraft package made from recycled grocery bags. To obtain supplies, all I need to do is say “paper” instead of “plastic.”
For this project, you will need:
Leftover rub-ons (optional) These are made by Hambly Screen Prints.
Cut open the sides of your bag and fold the flaps over to maintain an even width across the length of the paper. Then fold the bag into thirds, or however many times you need to obtain the desired size of your package.
Now stitch all but one open side of your folded bag. Try some different stitch settings for variety and added decoration.
Step Four: Trim the uneven sides of the bag
What a great idea! I just ran across this on pinterest 🙂
To be honest, I am quite confused about the folding in half part. Can anyone help explain this to me? I got all the way down to cutting the bag down the sides and folding the flaps over.
Im so confused on the next part of the folding…
I think this packaging idea could be used for any hard to wrap gift that you might not have a box. Decorate for birthday, Christmas etc. presents. I like the pillow effect.
Thanks for sharing.I was just considering over the past weekend break of getting document packaging! i like the way you have individualized it as well. Great Idea.
Love this and love the Acme bag! A local favorite!
Re blogging this wonderful idea on Tuesday, Nov 8… here: http://nestdesignstudio.wordpress.com/2011/11/08/introducing-our-diy-series/
Thanks for the inspiration!Love your blog!
Thanks for posting! I really enjoyed the report. I’ve already bookmark this article.
Thanks for sharing your article. I really enjoyed it. I put a link to my site to here so other people can read it. My readers have about the same interets
hey there! loved the blog!
i guess your rss feed link isnt working!
could add my email? thanks! 😀
This is absolutely a great idea! I find myself spending waaay too much on packaging, so I’ve got to try this.
nice tips&tricks for a lazy monday afternoon.
Useful article,and the pictures are incredible!
Since we have to buy all the bags in the store and the paper bags are more expensive than the plastic ones I always use reuseable fabric or thick plastic bags that can be used like a zillion times or a shopping basket. But it’s a very cute idea and I’d love to try that.
I am always keeping the mailing bags that I receive and send those out again, but they look really dull and I need tons of tape to have them closed. Maybe there is a way of cute recycling of used mailing bags? I really have tons of them.
Oh and: I could NEVER use such cute rub-ons on a packaging. That would break my heart *sigh*
🙂
I think my brain just exploded when reading this post. Awesome work.
Very cute packaging, but I have to agree with the others who point out that it’s not really green (the motto is “_reduce_, reuse, recycle” so please take a cloth bag to the store instead of consuming a new paper or plastic one). I suggest reusing packaging that has been mailed to you instead. If you need more, ask friends and neighbors to save their packaging for you, or post a request on Freecycle.
Where did she come up with that? That’s really amazing and she’s a genius! If she had upcycled vintage looking materials she could make a bag with similar details. It would look really cute, I’m sure!
http://www.eco-handbags.ca
very good gift idea, thanx
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Great idea!
Also…I love the look of your blog and was wondering who designed it. Thanks!
Kristin.sellars@gmail.com
I think I will actually try this…with my next sale perhaps!!! thanks for the inspiration…I love sewing paper!
ciao bella
carmelina
what a great idea. i never would have thought about it. but i am so going to make some of those. i have birthdays coming up. that would be a great way to package their presents!
So cute! Make sure you check
the USPS site. I was looking
at it and there is instructions
to put tape over the threads.
Sometimes the threads get caught
in their machines and the package
might get damaged as a result.
God Bless You and Yours!!!