Friday, May 08, 2009

Paper Bag Cover

This project is incredibly easy. It is a dome to cover a meal or snack on a tray, to give to someone special. Make tea and toast and take it to someone who is recovering from illness, and just leave it with them as a gift.

Lay out a heavy paper grocery sack and cut across just where the fold is at the bottom, like this. This craft will not work as well with thin bags, but you could also just use a a large shoe box or any other kind of box.


Roll up the lower edge all around the bag, about 1/4 inch , twice, to make it sit upright.



Then flatten it again and apply your favorite papers. Thin papers work much better than the luxury papers or cardstocks. You can also use magazine clippings. Gardening pictures work well. Turn the project over and decorate the other sides.




Tie a big bow and secure it on the sides of the bag with glue. fastening with clothespins til dry. Use the bow as a handle to lift the cover from the tray. Find a very sturdy cardboard lid or box for your tray. The tray can also be a beautiful art project. If you will use decoupage glue or some kind of craft glaze over the papers, it takes on a high quality look.




The picture below is something interesting. One of the children wanted to give me something special. He knew I didn't want him to spend money, and he knew I liked pink. He made me a pink laptop. Notice how he spelled "internet." It is probably more appropriate ;-) He even included Bollywood discs for me to watch. I guess if children have paper, they think they can have anything!


This is just a piece of pink paper folded in half, with the screen on the upper side and the keyboard on the lower side.



















7 comments:

Jenn said...

what a wonderful idea

Sharon said...

Thanks for such a great idea! Yours turned out really pretty!

Anonymous said...

The idea of giftpacking DVD's etc in a crafted 'laptop' box is sweet. The sky's the limit with what one can make...Oh, and if you've a friend who uses Braille paper, it makes excellent cards and the good quality variety would be perfect for hand-drawn cards etc. Stainsby (13"x10.5") (increasingly difficult to find) is perfect for cards; Perkins (11"x11.5") is the most common but makes for a thinner, taller card if you wish to orient it 'portrait' though it would be ideal for any card oriented 'landscape'.

If you wanted to make a truly special card that would last, you could use this paper, (Lydia, if you want some, I;m happy to send it), add your decoration, fold it, then cover it with clear contact if you want something that is going to last (and have the patience to work with said contact...)

This would also make a nice outer cover for a little book/binder (simply use a holepunch and ribbon of your choice - this (on a larger scale with the right sized card stock) would make an excellent magazine cover (Just use several ribbons) good for all those back issues of victoria that need an attractive home rather than cluttering up the magazine basket :-)...

Sarah.

Lydia said...

This, and the craft in the revious post, would be great places to glue all the things like keys and feathers, stickers, and so forth. Think how pretty the dome or wall pocket would look with photographs, clip art, dimensional stickers, ribbons, strings of beads, metallic things, or various types of glitters and finishes.

Anonymous said...

Lydia and ladies,

There's a long tradition amongst Sydney's indigenous Australians to produce beautiful shell- craft pieces; mirrors, boxes, anything that can be covered or bordered - the elder ladies pass this down to their daughters and grandaughters, taking great care to use only the best shells, assiduously collected and categorised. The older ladies are concerned that the younger girls are no longer interested in this tradition, fearing it may be lost with their generation. Fairly recently, the works of one particular lady were exhibited in a high profile art gallery; they were/are beautiful. the documentary on this truly reinforced the importance of family and the feminine arts, no matter the nation, culture, kindred or people...all populations have their feminine family traditions, all which are increasingly under threat by the very issues boldly spoken about on this blog.

blessings Lydia, and, all who read and comment,

Sarah.

Lydia said...

Sarah, those shell crafts are very popular again here.

Mrs. Webfoot said...

This is a cute idea, and something that kids at camp could make fairly easily.

Thank you for sharing.

Thank you, too, Sarah, for the idea of how to use sea shells in craft projects.

This is a beautiful blog. Thank you.

God bless,
Mrs. Webfoot