Mel Designs

Recycled Magazine Page Favor Pouches

 
Happy Friday! I hope that you have had fun this week reading about the origami folded recycled grocery bag pouches and newspaper pouches you can make from virtually anything you can find around the house. I have one more idea to share with you, my blog friends.

These pouches were made in similar fashion but with pretty recycled magazine pages.

 
These pages are from Better Homes and Gardens. I used this magazine because they are usually full of beautiful photographs.

Start by cutting the magazine page to a 7" square, using a paper trimmer. 7" was the largest complete sqaure I was able to get from these torn pages. If you are using a magazine that has a larger format, you can probably get an 8" or 9" sqaure which results in a larger bag.

Follow the step by steps as shown in the pictures below. If you need a more detailed description, it may help to refer to the earlier posts by clicking here.

 
 
 
 
 
Now, the fun part is here. I chose to line the top edge with black tissue paper. I cut it into a 1" x 5" strip and wrapped it around the top edge in the following manner...

 
 
 
I used scalloped edged scissors to cut off the top portion of the bag, making a scalloped edged top.

 
Finally, pretty german die cuts, tiny block letter stickers and stamped cardstock circles make this a quick, unique inexpensive favor for my bunco group, which is coming next week.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Live Life Creatively,

 

Recycled Newspaper Favor Pouches- Now on Etsy!

 
I have had an absolute BLAST creating favor bags from recycled materials lately. And now, I am offering them for sale on etsy!

Thanks for allowing me to share the bags I created using a simple origami fold and brown paper grocery bags. Now let me show you how I created these fun bags from newspaper and some fabric and felt scraps.

 
I started by laying out pages of newspaper onto a flat surface. I stacked about 3 or 4 pages together. I cut the pages into quadrants so I could get a size that would fit into my 12 x 12 paper trimmer. I put the four layers of paper into my paper trimmer and cut 8" squares. I put a little glue between the pages to hold in place while I sewed the edges of the newspaper together and then randomly sewed squiggled lines up and down the squares.  

Now comes the folding part... Fold the stitched paper in half so it looks like this...

 
Now fold one corner in, like this... use some paper glue to hold the flap in place.

 
Repeat for the opposite corner...

 
Fold one of the top flaps down and secure with paper glue...

 
Flip the pouch over and repeat. You now have a small opening like this....

 
I am loving all the rolled fabric flowers I see popping up in projects so I decided that is how I would embellish my bags. Here is how to create a rolled fabric flower.

Cut a 1" x 12" strip of fabric. You also rip the fabric to create frayed edges which adds to the rustic look of these.

 
Starting at one end, twist the fabric strip towards you and continue until the entire strip is twisted. You may want to use a little fabric glue on one end to keep the twst in place. Once the strip is twisted, roll the strip in a sprial like this...

 
Your flower should end up like this... place a little fabric glue on the end of the strip to secure. You might also want to glue the rolled flower here and there to secure.

 
I chose two Sizzix die cuts and National Nonwovens wool felt to create pretty leaves for my flower.

 
 
I also decided to add some round metal rimmed tags, stamped with sentiments and a little birdy to further embellish my fun bag....

 
Attach the tags and wire handles by punching a small hole into the sides of the bag front and back, and use round nose pliers to bend and secure ends.

 
How to use these? Here is a list of ideas

1. Fill them with wrapped candies and hang in a co-workers space for an instant pick me up

2. Insert a gift card for a very creatively presented surprise

3. Fill with seed packets and give to a garden loving friend

4. Hang on a neighbors door filled with wrapped cookies for a sweet "just because" gift

5. Fill with paper clips, note pads, pencils, etc for a quick and easy teacher appreciation gift

How would you use these? Let me know, leave me a comment, I love to hear from you....

If you like this idea for teacher appreciation gifts, wedding favors, etc, you can order them directly from my etsy shop.

 
Live Life Creatively,

 

Brown Grocery Bag Origami Pouches- Now on Etsy

 
If you have plain brown grocery bags or small lunch sacks you can make some of these sweet pouch favors based on a popular origami fold. And while your here- take a peek at the recycled newspaper pouches and magazine page pouches. If you do not have time to make them yourself, I am offering them for sale on etsy!

For the grocery bag favors- I used the small lunch sack sized ones. You can buy like -100- for a couple of bucks.

I started by cutting off the bottom of the bag with scissors. I tried to keep as much of the bag intact as possible since I am looking to get an 8" sqaure from the bag.

 
Open the bag and smooth out. With a paper trimmer cut the bag to an 8" sqaure.

 
To adjust the final size of your favor pouch, cut a larger square, say 9" or 10." You might need to use one of those large brown paper bags to get a square this large. You know- the ones they use to use when they said "paper or plastic?"

The first fold is from one corner to the other- like this:

 
Continue as follows and use a little adhesive to hold down the flaps so the pouch will stay intact.

 
I like Beacon Adhesives Zip Dry Paper Glue for projects like this since it dries so quickly and is perfect for assembly line projects.

 
You can decorate these anyway you want. Use your favorite technique to stamp, paint, stitch, ink or anything else. Its a blank canvas. I decided to do something quick so I dry brushed the surface with pastels and edges the pouch with black paint.

 
 
Add a focal point of your choice like some vintage dictionary circles and stamped cardstock in spring images.

 
 
Make your look mixed media by adding some stitching, embellishments and handles from sheer ribbon. Make these fun pouches for Spring gathering, baby or wedding showers or change up the images and style for a kids party favor.

 

Live Life Creatively,

 

A Jar Full of Eggs

 
I am so eager for Spring's arrival this year! Create and Decorate's newest issue is filled with sweet projects that will have you singing for the arrival of all things Spring.

 
To celebrate, I created this bird jar full of jars, using recycled baby food jars and Sculpey III. The mama bird protectively sits atop her nest, created by covering STYROFOAM shapes with small pieces of gaffer tape.

To see a complete list of project instructions and materials, click here.

Happy (almost) Spring!

Life Life Creatively,

 

Crafting Disasters and Other Funny Crafting Stories

 
One of my 2011 resolutions is to learn to lighten up, not take myself too seriously and learn to laugh at myself more. When I was invited not long ago to submit some projects to be used at the CHA show in a popular clay manufacturers booth, I decided to create an adorable clay snowman globe. I finished and invited my good friend Niki Meiners, to review my completed projects and offer feedback. What I got was a voicemail from her laughing wildly. I remember her saying "OMG, that snowman looks like he is saying "get me the "%$#$%^" out of this jar!"

The other day I was on the phone with one of my editors and we were discussing new trends. The conversation went something like this- Me- "I hear the 'crafting look' is really coming to fashion." Her- You mean paint splashes on your clothes, or wiping your inky hands on your jeans and going out?" Me- "No, I mean adding crafting embellishments to your clothes such as bling and appliques." Her- "The other day me and my husband went to lunch and he said, 'OMG, you have glitter on your face." Me- "thats okay, my husband and I were at dinner one day and he had glitter on his face, I didn't know how to tell him."

For more craft projects, check out Regretsy.com. It is full of hilarious photos of crafting and art project gone horribly wrong as listed on etsy.

 
Now some readers find this mean but I say if we can't laugh at life and crafting mistakes, then we are taking crafting too seriously and that sort of takes the fun out of it. I am not perfect, and as seen by the photo above, I make mistakes, especially when I craft....so why not get a good laugh out of it!

Niki is one of those brave souls bearing hear soul and showing you as she calls it "an ultimate crafting flail." She attempted to make some sweet little gnomes out of styrofoam comes and needle felting. Great idea but I have to agree with her that she may not have gotten it right in the first try...

 
Do you have a funny crafting mishap or funny story to share? I would love to hear it!

Live Life Creatively,

 

 

 

Marvy Uchida Make It Take Its At CHA

 
Thats me holding up a sample project created by a crafty participant at the recent CHA show held in Los Angelos, CA in the Marvy Uchida booth. I had the distinct pleasure of designing and conducting make it take it's for Marvy and had a blast seeing all the unqiue versions of the designs.

We used Marvy DecoFabric Spray and DecoFabric Markers to create simple, yet fun designs on these canvas tags from Canvas Corp. Above are the original samples. It is so much fun to see attendees put their own spin on the project!

 
 
 

 

 
 
We decorated simple canvas pouches using the same materials based on this design.

 
Here are some of the precious variations...

 
 
 
Live Life Creatively,