Upcycled: gift bags made from vintage wallpaper (with tutorial) |Keeping it Real

Thursday, September 17, 2020

Upcycled: gift bags made from vintage wallpaper (with tutorial)

Hello, and welcome back. If you've been visiting a while you already know I love upcycling stuff. 

So what did I do when I found an unused roll of wall paper in my old grandparents house during our summer vacation this year? 


Upcycled: gift bags made from vintage wallpaper (with tutorial)

I used it to make gift bags, of course!

I wanted the gift bags to look like those store bought ones that stand up on their own (even if I was using wall paper from 50 years ago or something), so I searched online for the perfect method - and, as usual, ended up mostly creating my own. 


Upcycled: gift bags made from vintage wallpaper (with tutorial)


I tried to take pictures of all the process - as this works great with any other kind of paper and homemade gift bags are always useful. 


Upcycled: gift bags made from vintage wallpaper (with tutorial)


I started by cutting a rectangle of about 55 x 40 cm (which, after all the folding and gluing, turned into a gift bag of about 30 x 20 cm, so adjust your measures accordingly depending on the finished size you need). 

Then I folded the two longer edges inward, overlapping a bit, and glued them in place - I used paper glue, but two sided adhesive tape works fine too. 


Upcycled: gift bags made from vintage wallpaper (with tutorial)

Upcycled: gift bags made from vintage wallpaper (with tutorial)

Upcycled: gift bags made from vintage wallpaper (with tutorial)


Here's how it should look at the end of this step: 


Upcycled: gift bags made from vintage wallpaper (with tutorial)


Now let's focus on the bottom of the bag. First, follow the steps below to fold the paper: 


Upcycled: gift bags made from vintage wallpaper (with tutorial)

Upcycled: gift bags made from vintage wallpaper (with tutorial)

Upcycled: gift bags made from vintage wallpaper (with tutorial)

Upcycled: gift bags made from vintage wallpaper (with tutorial)


Glue the folds in place and the bottom of your bag is done!


Upcycled: gift bags made from vintage wallpaper (with tutorial)


Fold in the sides a bit. 


Upcycled: gift bags made from vintage wallpaper (with tutorial)

Upcycled: gift bags made from vintage wallpaper (with tutorial)


By now your bag should look like this (front and back): 

Upcycled: gift bags made from vintage wallpaper (with tutorial)

Upcycled: gift bags made from vintage wallpaper (with tutorial)


Now onto the top of the bag. All you need to do is to fold the edges down, measure and mark the place for two holes (I used a pencil for the markings and a hole punch for the holes): 


Upcycled: gift bags made from vintage wallpaper (with tutorial)

Upcycled: gift bags made from vintage wallpaper (with tutorial)

Upcycled: gift bags made from vintage wallpaper (with tutorial)


And your bag is ready to be used! 

Place a gift inside, run a ribbon through those two holes you punched, tie a pretty bow and you're done!


Upcycled: gift bags made from vintage wallpaper (with tutorial)

Upcycled: gift bags made from vintage wallpaper (with tutorial)


Because I had so much fun working on this bag, of course I immediately made another one, slightly smaller this time:
 

Upcycled: gift bags made from vintage wallpaper (with tutorial)


And here they are together: 


Upcycled: gift bags made from vintage wallpaper (with tutorial)


Upcycled: gift bags made from vintage wallpaper (with tutorial)



Have fun and happy Thursday!

Keeping it Real, craft blog



5 comments:

  1. What an awesome idea!

    Michelle
    https://mybijoulifeonline.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is a fantastic idea. I am a big fan of using what is on hand. Gift bags are the go to and making them as you need them from items you can find at the thrift store is a win-win!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Tracy! Yes, over the years I have used lots of different materials to wrap gifts - fabric, felt, cardboard, recycled packages...and now wall paper too!

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  3. Thank you for sharing this on Traffic Jam Weekend! It has been chosen as a fave feature for this week's party that went live on Thursday at 5:00 pm CST.

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