snips & snails gift bag…

Good morning!  I have a fun little gift project up on the Doodlebug Blog today – a little gift bag.

I’ve made this type of gift bag/box a LOT lately – I love how easy they are to put together.

I’ve had a lot of people ask me about it – wondering if it’s a die-cut if I have a template…the answer is no…but they are really easy to make.  So, here’s a (very long) photo tutorial for making this little gift bag – followed by a photo tutorial for making the little star embellishments.

To make the bag:

1.  Trim the tab off of a full 12x12 piece of patterned paper.

2.  Score two lines, one at 3” and one at 9”

Now, fold on the score lines.  Be sure to make nice crisp folds.

Now, go back to your score board and place your paper with the long edge at the top.  Score at 5” and 7”.

Again, fold with nice crisp folds.

Now you’ll have to make four folds without the score board.  It’s probably easier to look at the photo than to try to explain this fold.  Start with one of the intersections that you just folded - Fold the paper back toward you at an angle – the left side needs to fold down so it’s straight… check out the next 3 photos.

Hopefully that makes sense.  Repeat for all four sides.

I like to pinch the straight sides of the box so they will fold in a bit.  Now when you look at your box from the top you will see this:

If you want to secure the edges, you can add a bit of adhesive, but it’s not necessary…it will hold it’s shape when the topper is attached.

For the stars:

Punch 3 stars from patterned paper.  You could also use star die-cuts, or cut them by hand, but the sides need to be equal for this technique to work.

I shared a tutorial for created HUGE stars (here) for a 4th of July star garland a few weeks ago.  This is the exact same technique, just on a much smaller scale.  Score from the tip of each point to the valley (so each star will have five score lines going across and intersecting the center).  Be sure to score the BACK of the stars.

Now fold along the score lines using an “accordion” fold.  The points will have the “hill” folds and the valleys will have the “valley” folds.

Repeat for all 3 stars:

Now stack up some foam adhesive squares and attach them to the back/center of each star.

Now we’re ready to create the topper:

You have two options for the topper – trim a 12x12 paper down to 6x6, or use a 6x6 from the mini paper pads.

I forgot to take a photo – but now you need to score the topper right down the middle – at 3".

Add a border sticker along the bottom.

Now place the 3 stars you made earlier.

Punch two holes in the top of the topper –

I usually sit it on the gift bag and punch through all the layers at once.

Now add brads through the holes to attach everything together. 

Add a gift tag too!

See how easy?  And once you’ve done it once, you’ll get the hang of it and you’ll be making these over and over and over.  They are perfect for little treats or even gift cards! 

Let me know if you have any questions! :)

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