Tutorial Wednesday at Bugaboo

Are you tired of not having just the right packaging for those little Christmas gifts? Or maybe you don't want to buy little plastic tubs to pack your homemade bakery treats in to give to your friends and co-workers. Well, I have a solution for you. Make your own SUPER ADORABLE holiday bag.
Here's a pic, so you know what you're getting into:


And a side view, just to be sure:



Still interested? Okay, here's what you'll need:
A paper lunchbag-cut 4.25 inches from the bottom
Cardstock cut at 4.25x5.5 inches for the front of the bag
Cardstock cut at 6.25x5.5 inches (scored at 4.25") for the back of the bag and front flap
Patterned paper cut at 4x5.25 for front, 4x5.25 inches for the back, and 1.75x5.25 for the flap
hole punch
approximately 8 inches of ribbon
Velcro dot closures
Your choice of adorable Bugaboo image printed about 2" high and colored to match your papers

Here's how you put it all together:
Layer your patterned paper on the cardstock for the front, back and front flap.
Use the hole punch to punch one hole on each side of the cardstock for the back of the bag, near the fold for the flap. Insert ribbon and use sticky tape or glue to secure to the inside (the side without the paterned paper on it) Here's a pic so you can see approximately where you should punch your holes:

Now comes the somewhat tricky part-take your paper lunchbag and turn it so the flat side is facing up. This will be the front of your bag.

Use a glue runner or sticky tape and place tape along the edges of the bag. Secure the cardstock that you prepared for the front of the bag to the paper bag. Turn the bag over and unfold the bag and flatten it out. This is the back side of the bag, before you flatten it out:

And this is what it should look like when you flatten it out. You want to add your prepared cardstock when the bag looks like this:

Put glue along the edges of this side. Take the cardstock that you prepared for the back of the bag and line it up with the cardstock for the front. Don't use the brown bag to determine where this piece goes because the brown bags can be uneven. Line the back piece up with the front piece and press in place.
Turn the bag over and stand it up. If it sits right, move on to the next step which is lining up and securing the velcro dot so the bag can close. If your bag doesn't line up right, adjust the front or back pieces to even it out and then proceed with the velcro step.

Now you decorate the bag as you see fit. I added some buttons at the top and matted my snowman image on two coordinating pieces of cardstock. The choice is yours.
I know this is a lot of instruction but once you walk through it and do it once, you'll be amazed at how easy it is and you'll want to make tons of these for all your small gifts or treats that you'll be giving out. One word of caution, paper bag sizes can vary so measure your paper bag first to make sure that these measurements will work for you. If your bag is a bit bigger, you'll have to adjust your measurements accordingly.
Have fun and if you make one of these bags, let me know, I'd love to see it.