Gift/Favor Bags.

Sometime back, I saw somewhere how to make these gift bags and have been thinking of making my own. And now finally got to make it. I made it with old calendar paper. The paper was quiet sturdy to carry little gifts. You can even make these with newspaper and it looks pretty nice. And it is a good way to recycle...:)

You'll need:
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- Thick paper, like calendar paper or card stock paper. You can use brown paper or newspaper or any kind of paper for that matter. Just make sure that the paper is sturdy to carry whatever you plan to put in the bag. If it is not sturdy, you can start with 2 sheets of paper to layer it to make it a bit more sturdy.
- Ribbons.
-Glue.

Steps.
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- Ok, now for the measurements. If you want your bag to be suppose 7" long and 3" broad. Then take a length of paper which is twice the length and twice the breadth, plus 1 inch more. So 21" (7+3+7+3+1) long. Just like the picture below, mark  and then score the paper at 7", then at  3", then again at 7" followed by at 3". You will have an extra 1" remaining after you scored the paper. You don't have to write the markings like I did. It was just to make the measurements clear...:)

- For the breadth of the paper, it depends on how high you want the bag to be. Suppose you want the height of the bag to be 6". Then for the breadth you will take 6" + 1" ( for folding on the top) + 3" ( which will be the base of the bag), which totals to 10"

- So, basically you will start with 21" long(from step 1) and 10" wide(from step 2) sheet of paper....:) Phew, all that calculations just to cut a sheet of paper.

-  Believe me it just sounds confusing, but it is not. The pictures below can explain it better and I know you all must be smart enough to figure out looking at just the pictures below. Anyways, marching ahead with making our bag.

- Taking the width of the paper, score at 1" from top and then at 3" from the bottom, just like the picture below.

- Fold the 1" first and glue it down, this will form the top of the bag.

- Taking the length of the paper. Fold along the scored lines and then glue the ends together.

So you glue the 1" at the end to the start of the paper and then you should have something like this.

- Now for the bottom of the bag. Taking the scored piece as a reference, fold the bottom of the bag and glue like the pictures below.

- Punch two holes on either side of the bag  and thread in ribbon and your bag is ready.

To give a cleaner look inside, cut a rectangle piece of paper, just a little shorter in length and breadth of the base of the bag and glue it inside.

You can now decorate your bag if you like with ribbons or whatever you want.

Linking this to these awesome parties here, here, here and here.