Wednesday, April 14, 2010

bag lady

inspired by my friend leigh's awesome before + after blog post, i present to you a little before + after of my own!  the makeover subject is an exciting one...paper bags!  for years, i've used the brown lunch-bag version at craft shows to package my sales, stamping them like so:

BEFORE:

simple, and vintage-y.  just like i like it.  zoning out and stamping hundreds of bags before a craft show was so enjoyable, in a weird way.  but lately i'd grown tired of the stamp and decided to take things up a notch, like so:

AFTER:
i am pretty pleased with the results if i do say so myself :) 

i used a paper hole punch from michael's at the top of the bag.  the opening on the hole punch is a bit small, making it kind of a pain to feed the paper into the punch - pulling the edges of the bag tight seemed to help, though.  having a straight edge on the bags seemed to help, also:


after that, i used serrated scissors to cut squares from the TONS of vintage fabric scraps i have, then taped squares on the bag's insides.  yeah! 


i've always saved as many vintage-material scraps as possible in hopes of one day finding a use for them.  finally, success!  added bonuses: the "scrap" paper that is left after the punch, maybe for christmas and present decorating?

                                             

the cost for this bag makeover project, super cheap: 

paper bags: around $1-$2 and available everywhere (grocery, drug + dollar stores)
hole punch:  $9.89 ($17.99 with a 45% off coupon from michael's)
tape, fabric: already had 'em
total cost: under $12

thanks for the inspiration, leigh!

sorry, couldn't resist.

4 comments:

  1. I love your new bags and your new blog!!

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  2. I love it! I'm going to need to get one of those punches. What a great way to make a gift look extra special. :)

    Thanks for joining the party with such a great post!

    ~Kim

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  3. OMG! How simple and beautiful. Thanks for sharing your new bags!

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  4. Very clever, I always enjoy seeing how others package up their items!

    Tania

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