Jan's Library

Make Christmas Gift Bags with Matching Gift Tags

By: Jan K., The Proofer

This craft is simple, quick, and is fun for all ages! You can create elaborately decorated bags or you can create simple bags that are nonetheless colorful and festive. Best of all, regardless of how you care to decorate the bags, you can make matching gift tags!

To help you with this craft, I've provided free, illustrated instructions at:

http://readingroom.janktheproofer.com/makechristmasgiftbags.htm

These instructions contain several pictures, so it might take several (long) seconds for the page to open. Once the page does open, then allow a few extra second for all the pictures to appear.

For my craft items, I shopped at a "dollar" store, Michael's (a large craft store), and Office Depot (yes, Office Depot). By thinking ahead, you can make the most of buying discounted bundles or quantities of gift bags (in various sizes). Also, while the illustrations show just one method of decorating the gift bag and matching gift tag, once you understand the concept of this craft, you can browse through Michael's or any other craft supplies store (or section in stores like Wal-Mart and Target), and let your imagination roam.

For the basic craft project, you'll need:

• Plain gift bags (all-white or brown kraft paper are best, although plain red and green can easily be used)
• Christmas stamps (rubber stamps or foam cube stamps as shown here; you can easily substitute Christmas stickers, stencils, or anything else that can be put or glued on paper)
• Stamp pads (red, green, and white shown here)
• Blank business cards or postcards (for use as gift tags)
• Colored tissue paper
• Curl ribbon

To make the bag, used stamp decorations (as shown in the illustrations), follow these easy instructions:

1. Moisten the stamp on the stamp pad. Be sure the entire surface of the stamp is covered with colored ink.

2. Press inked stamp onto gift bag. Decorate with as many different stamps, or just one stamp, as desired.

I learned while doing this craft that the bag really has to be flat, on a hard surface, for the stamp imprints to take. Also, it took a few tries to get the hang of just how much pressure I had to use to get the whole stamp to imprint without getting the "sides" of the stamp on the paper. You might want to spend a few minutes experimenting on a blank piece of paper, or use a bag to practice (and just make it your experiment bag---and afterward put trash in it, or use it to store your stamps and stamp pads).

If young children are going to be working on this project, it might be more suitable to have Christmas stickers or adhesive-backed foam shapes that can easily be stuck to the bag (and gift tags).

3. Set the bags aside to allow them to dry. It may take several long minutes (or longer) for the ink to dry, so do plan ahead and have fun with this craft long before you'll be wrapping Christmas presents!

4. To make the matching gift tags, stamp either a blank business card or a blank postcard with a stamp that you used on the gift bag. Shown in the illustrations, a business card is stamped with a red ornament and a post card is stamped with a green tree. Use a hole punch to punch a hole in a corner of the business card or postcard so that you can attach the gift tag to the bag.

Just as with the gift bags, set the gift tags aside to allow them to dry. Once dry, and before you tie a gift tag onto a bag, be sure to fill out the To and From on the card. (For more ideas about using business cards to make Christmas gift tags, please go to "Make Your Own Christmas Gift Tags" (http://readingroom.janktheproofer.com/makegifttags.htm).

If young children will be doing this craft, you may find that it is easier to use postcards (or blank 3 x 5 index) cards as gift tags. The larger card surface will be a little easier for little hands (and developing hand-eye coordination skills) to get the decoration on the card.

5. Loosely wrap your gift in colored tissue paper and place into gift bag. I like to put the object in the very middle of two or more sheets of tissue paper. Make sure the tissue paper sheets are offset from each other (that is, lay one sheet over the other at an angle).

Then pick up the edges of the tissue paper so that the gift is in the bottom of the "cone" of tissue paper. Put the gift into the bag, with the points of tissue paper sticking out of the top of the gift bag.

6. Use coordinating colors of curl ribbon to tie the gift tag to the handle of the bag. Personally, I like lots of strings of curl ribbon and I leave them generously long. It sure does make the bag look very festive!

Now that you've created your own gift bags with matching gift tags any gift in the bag will look like a million bucks!

For more Christmas crafts, go to Jan's Reading Room, and click on the Holidays and Seasonal category:

http://readingroom.janktheproofer.com/ReadingIntro.htm

Jan K., The Proofer is a freelance copyeditor and proofreader. Visit http://www.jansportal.com for more information about Jan's free crafts, recipes, tutorials, other resource sites, and free content articles, as well as Jan’s business services. Be sure to visit Mom's Break (http://www.momsbreak.com/) for free printable crafts and projects. © Copyright 2005 to present. All rights reserved.