Repurposing Gift Bags

Gift bags are beautiful and they come in so many themes, colors, and sizes. If you are like me, you have ended up with a nice collection. So what do you do with them? I decided to recycle mine into storage containers for my office.  

To get started, first find a box to use. For this project, I used an empty K-cup box but any box will work. Ideas: you may try diaper boxes, boxes from a discount store when buying bulk, and Amazon.com sends out a perfect-fit box for this project. You get the idea, reuse and recycle what is on hand. Choose the size that will fit inside your gift bag. If the box does not fit inside the bag, you will not have enough paper to cover the box. So this is important.

If the top flaps are still on the box, cut them off so that your box has only a bottom and 4 sides. Neatness is not key here, this part will be covered. 

Next, choose a bag such as the one shown below in photo #1: 

Photo #1

Again, be sure the box you are covering will fit inside the bag!

Next, you want to cut the bag open down the side seam from top to bottom, cutting through the lip at the top. 

Photo #2

Photo #3

You should now have a bag with the bottom cut off (at the bottom crease) and a slit down one side and ready to use. 

In photo #1, you will see that the handle is a rope. This will become your box handle. Pull the lip (portion of the bag that is folded over at the top) up and find the point where the ribbon is attached to the bag, this is usually attached by a simple knot. With a pencil or something that will puncture a hole in your box, first mark and then poke a hole where the knot of the rope/ribbon will be pushed through. Hint: I usually un-knot the handle to poke it through the smallest hole necessary, so the handle will not slip though after you have retied the knot and the box is done. 

Line up the handle on the other side and push it through the box in the same way you did the first handle. (You may have to cut a slit into the other side seam of the bag so that the paper fits snugly around the box (if the box is smaller than the inside of the bag and is not close fit; I usually try to find a box that is close to the size of the bag so this step is not necessary).

Now fold the lip back over the top of the box, covering the top edge of the box (which is the cut edge), and glue down. Any glue will work: craft glue, Elmer’ glue, or whatever you have on hand for paper use. 

Fitting the bag snugly around the outside of the box, (remembering that it may require an extra seam cut to get a finished look) glue both seams down to the box, gluing one end of bag to the box first, then glue the remaining end down. 

Finish the bottom as if finishing the ends of a wrapped present. You can fasten with tape or glue, whichever you prefer, and you are finished!

Here is one that I have completed:

With the many bags and discarded boxes you find you can now start organizing any room at no extra cost and faithfully creating.