Sweet Burlap Gift Bags

Happy Monday Tuesday!

 

Whew! It's taken me awhile to get back on my feet after last weekend. I hope, though, everyone had a smashing 4th of July!

 

I had a hard time with everything I worked on yesterday...sort of seemed to be in a creative funk for the day. I finally ended up making some cute gift bags so the funk was short-lived. Thankfully!

 

I love burlap bags. They're rustic and basic but could stand, in reality, to be dressed up a little. Nothing too over the top given burlap's humble nature, just something simple...cute. So I got busy and created a scalloped heart design on the Silhouette. Once the design was complete, I cut 4 on heat transfer vinyl and ironed one onto each bag.

 

 So far, I like working with the heat transfer vinyl (HTV). HTV comes on a plastic-like backing. The Silhouette cuts the vinyl layer while leaving the backing layer intact. After the cut is completed, any of the vinyl that's not part of the design is removed and then it's ironed - with the vinyl side down and the backing attached - to fabric. A protective layer is also required between the backing material and the iron. I just use a scrap piece of fabric.

 

After the design is ironed, the backing is peeled off, the vinyl is now affixed to the fabric and the project is complete! I struggled a little bit with the detail on this heart and the texture of the burlap - they didn't exactly want to get together. The scallops required extra time and attention to make sure they were well attached but everything turned out great in the end.

 

These would be great bags for shower or wedding gifts. They'd actually work for any gift that's given from the heart...and that's small enough to fit in the bag!

I think there might be a way for peeps who don't have Silhouettes to create a few heat transfer vinyl projects that are similar to this. I haven't tried it yet - it's on my list - but I'll let you know if it works out.

For Silhouette owners, check back tomorrow. I'll have the cut file for the scalloped heart available for download.

 

Stay tuned.

 

~ M ~

Gifted

Hello Friends!

 

 

When I put together the Petite Party the other day, I had an idea for a favor/gift bag that would coordinate with the other elements I made for the occasion. This morning, I got everything together and set to work creating a little upcycled bag. I like how the idea came to life.

 

 

Of course I used two of my usual suspects - washi tape and baker's twine. I liked the color of the gift bag and the polka dots, too, but didn't love the big hole on top. So I used scalloped scissors to cut the bag down about 3 inches and punched a little hole in the center.

 

 

Next, I grabbed a piece of paper from my printer and taped 4 lengths of washi tape, to form a square, onto the paper. I scanned that into my photo editing software and created a heart shape using the washi tape as my background.

 

 

I cut out the heart shape using my Silhouette to make a tag for the bag. I tied the tag, with a smaller dotted-swiss heart tag for the recipient's name, to the front of the gift bag with both pink/white and red/white baker's twine.

 

 

Although nothing on a grand scale, just these quick little changes make the bag look more than a little special and would, hopefully, make the recipient feel the same!

 

 I'd love to receive a gift bag like this. Would you?

 

Stay tuned...

 

~ M ~