You might be doing some shopping this weekend, so here is how to recycle your shopping bag and make a Birthday Gift Bag. We often have these plain kraft bags in our stash at home, so use them to make nice gift bags and save a trip to the store to buy one! Even if the store name is printed on the bag, it can often be covered up with cardstock and the recipient will never know!

To decorate this small shopping bag, I used some Stampin’ Up! retiring products. The Warmth & Cheer Designer Series Paper Stack is on sale for only $4.00.  I started with wanting to use that paper.  One side of each sheet is more Christmas-y, but the other side is absolutely non-holiday. There are plaids and stars that you can use for lots of other occasions and would be useful making masculine cards.

Once I chose the star pattern to use, I picked the coordinating color Delightful Dijon Cardstock on which to layer the 6″ x 6″ piece. Since stars are great for lots of occasions like birthdays, graduations, patriotic holidays, congratulations and more, I decided to make some stars with the Stars Framelits Dies (on sale!) If you place one star framelit die inside another you can make the outline stars – and then you still have the center star that you cut out! For the stars, I also used some more of the Warmth & Cheer Paper Stack as well as some Gold Glimmer Paper.  Why not have some sparkle on a birthday gift bag??!  The greeting is stamped in Garden Green Ink with a stamp in the Big On Birthdays Photopolymer Stamp Set.

Here is a close-up of the decorated front of the gift bag.

Be sure to take a look at the Warmth & Cheer Designer Series Paper Stack on the Retirement List until May 31 or while supplies last!  You can see some baby cards I made with this paper HERE.  And if you want something to suit a lot of purposes, you might want to pick up the set of Stars Framelits Dies at a discount!  And don’t forget the Clearance Rack!

Recycle those cute shopping bags with all your stamping supplies into birthday gift bags or whatever occasions you need one for!

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This Hexagonal Decorated Birthday Gift Box is fairly easy to make and turns out really cute! I strongly suggest you watch the Stampin’ Up! video below on how to make the box, even if you have watched it before because you might need a review like I did!

To make this hexagonal gift box, use the Big Shot and Window Box Thinlits Dies by Stampin’ Up! This set of dies is amazing! Besides the basic hexagonal box shape, it has pieces to decorate the to and sides of the box with decorative little cutouts! There are also other little pieces, one makes a tag and one makes those flag ends on a strip of paper.

On this box, even though it has those decorative dies to use, I opted to just make the basic box and then decorate it with designer paper and balloons for a birthday! You can make these boxes for ANY occasion or holiday! I’ve even seen them online where it is like they are stacked to make a taller box.  I’ll have to learn about that and try it! After I made the Hexagonal Window Box, I die cut  a piece of the polka dot paper in the Party Animal Designer Series Paper package with just, the lid portion of the basic box die. Then I cut along the score lines or slightly inside, so that it would fit on the top lid of the box. Around the side of the box, I cut a strip of the candles pattern paper to go around. Luckily a 12″ strip does fit and even overlaps a little on the back. For the candle pattern, I cut it so that the candles themselves would be fully pictured, which meant I first cut off a strip on the edge that just had partial images of the candles. My strip is 1 3/4″ wide, but you can make yours narrower if you like depending on the pattern or look you want. Another choice would be to stamp on the box before you assemble it. After I had the paper around the side, I tied on some 1/8″ Taffeta Ribbon in Emerald Envy. For the top of the box, I stamped and punched three balloons with the Balloon Adventures Stamp Set and the Balloon Bouquet Punch. I attached some Whisper White Thick Baker’s Twine to the balloons and tied on a bow.  If I hadn’t tied the bow, I might have put a “Happy Birthday Banner” instead. This Hexagonal Decorated Birthday Gift Box is a cute box and can be made in any colors for any occasion. It’s big enough for a small gift or some candies or treats.

To make the window box (with or without windows!), die cut two of the basic box pieces. If you want the decorative inserts you can cut them now or cut them before you assemble the box.

One thing to remember is to cut off the end tabs of the straight strip portion on ONE piece. That is because when you go to assemble the box, you won’t need two tabs matching up, just one. Use a strong glue like the Multipurpose Liquid Glue or the Tear & Tape Adhesive.

Fold the scored lines for the tabs.  I think it is easiest to glue the beginning part with the box laying flat. Just make sure everything is straight.

Enjoy the Stampin’ Up! video to learn about and how to use these Window Box Thinlits Dies!

Now are you ready to make these beautiful boxes for gifts or even just decorations or party favors? Order yours today at my Stampin’ Up! Online Store HERE.  Get the Bundle with the Window Shopping Stamp Set  so you have everything you want and save 10% over buying them separately. The cost of the Bundle will earn you a FREE Sale-A-Bration product as well!

Order HERE at Stampin’ Up! Online During Sale-A-Bration!