One of my favorite stamping projects to do is to recycle a gift bag I may have received in a store and decorate it for a certain occasion. You can also buy a package of these handled gift bags at the craft store. This white bag was perfect to make a Snowman Gift Bag!
I made this bag just a little fancier than you would need to, but I was having fun! Depending on your bag size, you will have to figure out your own measurements for the pieces on the bag. I punched two eyes with the 1 1/4″ Circle Punch and the mouth pieces with the 3/4″ Circle Punch. I snipped off edges of the circles to make them look a little bit like pieces of coal. The carrot nose is just cut by hand from a Pumpkin Pie Cardstock scrap.
For the scarf and the hat band, I used the Buffalo Check Stamp (a large background stamp). It is black ink stamped on Real Red Cardstock. Yes, it is a little tricky to get the larger piece of cardstock stamped with the Buffalo Check stamp and keep everything lined up but just fool around with it, you can do it! And it doesn’t have to be perfect! My snowman’s scarf is 1 1/4″ x 7 3/4″. Then I cut two smaller pieces and a circle to make something that looks like the scarf tied in a knot. I added one of the Gold Faceted Gems just for some bling.
The snowman’s cheeks are two 1 1/2″ circles punched from the Sparkle Glimmer Paper. To make it pink, I picked up some Real Red ink with a lot of water from my Aqua Painter and colored the Glimmer Paper.
I really wanted a hat on my snowman bag so I cut a 2 1/2″ x 9″ piece of Basic Black Cardstock for the brim and another smaller piece, 4 1/4″ x 4 1/2″ for the hat. It extends beyond the top of the bag, but there is still room to grab the handles. I added a strip of the stamped Buffalo Check Real Red Cardstock for the hat bang and a few sprigs of Garden Green Cardstock from the Sprig Punch. A few berries are punched with the small circles on the Cookie Cutter Builder Punch.
Look through your bag of bags or in your craft stash and see if you don’t have some kraft shopping bags that you can decorate one way or another. Even if they have the store printing on them, you likely will cover that up with paper anyway.
Here is a Rudolph Gift Bag I made a while back and has been quite popular in this post. This gives you another idea for something you can make for the holidays.
Try decorating a few gift bags, maybe like this Snowman Gift Bag, to give to special people who will appreciate your efforts!!