Baby Bag and Card

Do you have shopping bags sitting around?  You know, the kind you get from retailers in the mall.  They are too sturdy to throw away, but you don't want to use them as a gift with your favorite store written across the front.  No worries, with just a little creativity (and maybe a Cricut), you can re-purpose those bags into your very own original gift bag.  I once saw one on YouTube and I decided I finally had something I could do with those bags that I have stacked up.  It's also a great way to turn a plain, inexpensive gift bag into something special.

As I mentioned in my last post, I attended a baby shower for a co-worker tonight.  She is expecting a baby girl and I had a bag I had been saving for just such an event.  I was so excited to use it!
Supplies:
Shopping bag
Cardstock - Flesh colored, dark brown, hot pink, light pink, dark blue scrap (from my stash)
Adhesive (I used my Xyron 2.5" sticker maker, foam squares, glue pen, and ATG)
Chestnut Roan ink (Colorbox)
Black ink pad
Light pink 1/8" ribbon (from my stash)
Light pink doodlebug eyelets
Tools:
Cricut Expression
Cricut Elegant Edges cartridge
Cricut Doodlecharms cartridge
Cricut Potpourri Basket cartridge
Face rubber stamps
Bone Folder
Eyelet setter and hole punch
Let's Get Started:
Using the border feature on the Elegant Edges cartridge, cut 4 heart borders from dark pink at 1.5" and 1 at 1".  Using the Doodlecharms cartridge, cut a face at 3" out of the flesh colored cardstock and its layers at the same size in dark pink and dark brown.  Cut the "girl" border and its layers using the same cardstock colors at 1.5".  Using the card feature, cut a dark pink girl card at 8".  Using Potpourri Basket's "bonus" feature, cut "It's a Girl" at 1.5".  Also cut 2 pieces of light pink cardstock 4 1/4"X10" with a paper trimmer to use as the base for your design.
Front:
Apply the top and bottom heart borders to your pink cardstock.  I then turned "It's a Girl" into stickers, using the Xyron and applied them as well.  I cut small strips of the dark pink paper and attached them under the side edges to help them stand out from the light pink of the bag.  I adhered a tiny scrap of dark blue cardstock to the back of the little girls eyes and then attached her hair and bow using a glue pen.  I inked around the outer edges of the face and bow with chestnut roan ink and attached it to the front of the bag with foam squares.
Sides:
When I opened up the bag to decorate the back, I discovered that the retailer's name was stamped on both sides.  I cut a piece of light pink cardstock large enough to cover the name and cut the 1" border in half and adhered it to the light pink.  I then adhered the whole thing over the retailer's name.
Back:
The main piece was made to mimic the front of the bag.  I then assembled the layers for the little girl border.  Several years ago, I purchased some facial expression stamps from "somewhere" (I couldn't find a retailer name on them).  I chose 3 different expressions and stamped them on the little girls' faces.  They were then adhered to the back of the bag.

Card:
Fold the card made with the Doodlecharm card feature in half, creasing at fold line with the bone folder.  Cut a piece of light pink cardstock the same length as the card and 1/2" wider.  Fold in the middle, creasing tightly with a bone folder.  Apply a line of adhesive on the back of the dark pink card, just below the crease.  This is the only adhesive that will be used on the card.  Adhere the 2 card pieces together.  Punch 2 holes and set eyelets in the holes at the top of the card.  Run ribbon through the eyelets and make a bow.

The gift was placed in the bag and dark pink and white tissue paper applied.  It turned out to be a cute, original bag!

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