Brown Paper Bag Crafts

The December 1890 Ladies Home Journal has been a great source of creative ideas for me this week. It gives me an idea of the kinds of things women made for their homes, that were both useful and beautiful.

This is a photograph of one of the projects illustrated in this magazine. It is made from some kind of board and satin ribbon, but I made one using brown paper bag material. These projects work with the heavy grocery bags that we get in America. This craft is longer to finish, mainly due to drying time, but otherwise, it goes together quite quickly. I think the more advanced crafters could really adapt this idea into something outstanding. This is just a sample of what could be done.

There is no tutorial for this one, because I was not sure what I was doing. I just cut a side of the bag and folded it in half, leaving a bit more on the back layer. I used the crepe paper that comes in rolls for streamers, pleated and glued it between the two layers, holding it with clothespins until dry. Ordinary school glue or white liquid glue works, but if you did not have it, you could make up a paste of flour and water, in a bowl, like we did when we could not buy commercial glue. The heavy brown paper takes craft paint very well. I used Folk Art paint, and let it dry.

Then I added any clippings I could find from magazines, and stickers, with ribbon trim. It is also painted with another layer of glitter paint.I punched holes in the back layer and threaded wired ribbon through it for hanging. It looks great on the wall. Click on the photo for a more detailed view. I like this craft, because it gets the mail off the desk and leaves me a little more space to write.

This one is much, much easier. It just requires the large side of the heavy brown grocery sack, and some clear tape. Roll it into a cone and tape it in various places.

With a hole punch or a pencil, punch a hole on each side. Thread wired ribbon, curly ribbon, or any kind of thing you like through it. Even jute rope or piece of fake ivy might look good. Bring the ends of the ribbon around to the front and tie into a bow.

I added dots of silver glitter on it, to match the silver edges of this wired ribbon.

This cone holds fresh leaves and branches and would also be great for a gift. Stuff the inside with tissue gift wrap and then load it with things to eat or bath products, pencils and art materials, sewing things, or whatever would make a good gift. The mail pouch could also be a great gift holder.

These heavy paper bags can be used for many things, which I hope to illustrate some day.

Gift Bags from Empty Boxes

The Hostess Gift

Old World Roses in a Basket
Art Print
Williams, Albert
Buy at AllPosters.com

I was surprised pleasantly by one of my guests with a hostess gift. I have often taken hostess gifts, which are things of a small, but thoughtful nature--perhaps a scented candle, a vase of flowers, some packaged food, a photo frame, fancy soaps, or just whatever I could find or had on hand in my home. I noticed it seemed to be a dying art amongst the younger generation and wanted to pass on some of the delights obtained by hostess gifts.

The pleasure of giving such things is so uplifting that it ought to be included along with chocolate, as a mood lifter. I've given things when my children were at home, which made us sing all the way home. Giving certainly brings you more exhuberance than getting.

If you have no money you may be able to retrieve some things from your home that will make excellent gift baskets, gift bags, or gift boxes. I must insist that the container is part of the charm of the gift itself. When I am looking for some kind of bath product in a discount store, I always consider the container. If it looks like something that could be used in the home as a useful item, or something beautiful to put letters in, or has any kind of appeal to it, I am more likely to buy the product. I believe that one of the reasons for the success of the bath and body products is the containers.

There are so many ideas for containers that they cannot be counted, but here are some:

-a gift bag

-a gift box with a lid

-a small bucket

-a basket

-a wall pocket or planter

-an old drawer or silverware divider

-an attractive bowl

-trays

-a hat is a great container

-any altered container such as a paint can, cleaned up and repainted with flowers or scenes, an empty tea box altered with pretty papers and scrapbook objects, and any hand made container from fabric such as a drawstring bag or a cloth box.

-Zipped plastic containers that once held sheets are great.

To fill them up, there is also no end of ideas:

In the spring: seeds, a little trowel, a recipe for garden produce, a towel

-bath products that suit the season are always welcome. These days, unlike days of old, women are actually using up the soaps and bath gels, and depend on these gifts to keep them in supply.

-ingredients to make a special cooked dish

In the summer: a picnic basket filled with special things

-bath products that make a person feel refreshed and cool since they are more apt to head for the shower in hot weather.

-flowering plants, flowers

-things that help the recipient with their efforts at showing hospitality--such as special gadgets and plates that provide more space for serving, or fancy paper napkins.

In the autumn: Everyone likes spices that smell like cinnamon, - cookie cutters, mixes for special breads, table cloths, and placemats.

In the winter: Reading material of high quality, CDs and DVD's of a soothing nature, slippers, towels, little blankets to use while sitting, writing materials such as good pens and papers, and baskets full of skin care products.

I've never tired of giving a hostess gift and learned that you do not have to be invited in order to do so. YOu can just make something up in a container and take it to someone. They enjoy it and hopefully be spurred on to repeat the action to someone else.

The recent hostess gift that I received was a bag full of all kinds of things, and not related to one theme. She gave me a book she had read that she knew I would like, a tea recipe cookbook, a tea cup, fancy paper napkins, a classical CD to listen to, a box of specialty tea, some notecards and a pretty ornament that would suit any season. It was all packed inside of a glossy gift bag with matching theme decorations on it.

It does bring a concern to the minds of older women for the younger ones to follow suit. They need to realize that after a period of time, they should grow up and behave as adult women. To prove their maturity and responsibility, they can adopt the practice of the hostess gift