Crafts Using Christmas Gift Bags?

I have loads of Christmas gift bags that I will never use since we usually give gift cards. What are some crafty ways I can use them or turn them into other things? I thought of making them into cards but there again we have loads of blank Christmas cards, too. Any tips? I don't want to just throw them out.

Scarrie from Hampton, GA

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Julie
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December 30, 20080 found this helpful

you could make book covers from them, use decorative sissors for the edging, they work great on any books, like childrens books, cook books, anyone with birthdays in december to use for a photo alblum book cover. you can also carefully undo them making long pieces out of them to use as door covers for any holiday depending on there theme. they work great too as temporary mail box covers, use just cut the shape you need and cut an l shaped slot on the side for the flag to pass thourgh.

one I like very much is cutting them into place matts, again using your decorative sissors around the edges. they can be placed inside large glass jars as the insides decorative look and just add dry foods like cookies, etc. drink coasters, name tags for table settings, using decorative sissors again. we went to a family restaraunt the other day who normally has pictures on the wall of cows and for the holidays they had used the bags to cover them by again cutting them out and just setting the shape paper inside the frames outside part. If they are large enough you can cut it apart , lay out the paper on a flat service and use your lamp shade as a templete to make a holiday cover for the shades outside cover and use double stich tape to hold it on. hope that helped. I love saving the bags too and reusing them.

dede smith

December 30, 20080 found this helpful

Recycle them if you throw them out, but I take some brown lunch sacks, and make mini gift bags out of my cards.
A grouping of these tied together present like, of the ones that turn out nice and are all the same size, make a nice gift.

Tear the card down the folded center, and glue them to the front and back side of the brown lunch sack. Cut it down to size, and glue on ribbon handles. I embellish with glitter glue, recycled pieces of silk Christmas flowers, raffia, etc.
My kids like to use beading wire and beads to make the handles on theirs: just glue the wire ends inbetween the card and bag.
Sometimes I make a "Gift Wrap Package" to give as a gift, using a roll of wrap paper, these bags and some cardstock gift tags, which are also created using the smaller designs on cards I have recieved.

By (Guest Post)

December 30, 20080 found this helpful

Neat ideas you guys! Keep them coming, I'm saving all these great tips in my craft files.

Louise B.
Silver Feedback Medal for All Time! 337 Feedbacks

January 5, 20090 found this helpful

If they are in good shape, why don't you donate them to the Salvation Army or Goodwill or whatever you have. Or perhaps next year, donate them to the food bank -- certainly people who can't afford to buy food for Christmas aren't going to be able to buy gift bags.

Debbie Dzurilla
Gold Feedback Medal for All Time! 696 Feedbacks

January 5, 20090 found this helpful

Sell them at a garage sale or see if friends/family might want to buy some (if the price is right), or donate to charity.

By Cindy (Guest Post)

January 8, 20090 found this helpful

I've seen gift bags made into clocks. I think reinforced with corrugated cardboard on the inside and clock face kit on outside.

Fionar Booker

January 9, 20090 found this helpful

Are you a member of Freecycle? They have chapters all over the country. You just give stuff to people who need it and vice versa. I gave a school teacher tons of gift bags last year. He needed them to hold all of each student's year end projects, papers, etc. He was very grateful and I gave stuff for a worthy cause.

Just google freecycle and see if there's a local one in your area. It's a great way to give to people who really need things and you can ask for things you need as well. I've done both, although I've given a lot more than I asked for because I have too much stuff as it is. :)

Tonya

November 7, 20090 found this helpful

I also had a ton of beautiful gift bags and I had no where to put them. As friends occasionally came over I would drag them out and say help yourself. I was always amazed at how grateful people were to get them. (In our family I usually do gift cards, too.)

I don't do scrapbooking, but could you like cut around flowers, or children or Santa and use them in scrapbooking?

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