Paper Bag Purse

My upline Doris Evans shared this creation with us at a unit meeting.  It's been a fabulous project and I enjoyed teaching it at Village Creek.  

This year at Scrapbook Retreat at Village Creek Bible Camp... I had a theme.  Over the summer I read a book called "29 Gifts... How a Month of Giving Can Change Your Life"by Cami Walker.

The story is about a young woman who is in the throes of MS, which can be a very debilitating disease.  She was in constant pain, totally dependent on others, tons of medications, and was unable to sleep and eat.  Searching for any help, she sought out a variety of alternatives.  One such Alternative was Mbali from South Africa.  

Her prescription was for Cami to give something* away for the next 29 days.  Of course Cami was outraged... how dare she tell me to give things away... can't she see what how sick I am?  Cami finally thought... what do I have to lose, so she tried it.  She started looking at others needs and tried to find something to help others.  

*A gift may be a plethora of things... such as time, a phone call, a service, something you already have, a hand made card... an act of kindness... etc... 

By the end of the story, as she continued giving, she found that she was focusing less on herself and more on others and that as she focused on others, she was being blessed.  My classes at VCBC were designed to for the purpose of giving.

Here is the website that Cami has set up     http://www.29gifts.org/   I encourage you, during this season of giving to be a giver... to look out for someone else and reach out.  I would love to hear how this has affected you.

Here are the directions for creating this delightful bag.

Needs...
paper bag
card stock (two colors)
decorative paper (two kinds that coordinate)
paper trimmer
adhesive
ribbon
Decoration







paper bag
   cut at 5 inches. fold bottom in half.
card stock
   cut a 12x12 sheet at 5.25x12
   cut that at 7 (you will need both pieces 7x5.25 and 5x5.25)
   score 7x5.5 at 2 (creates the flap... 2x5.25 and 5x5.25)
        cut slits in score for ribbon to go thru (but not big)
   3x3 for flap
   2.75x2.75 coordinating color for inside flap

decorative paper

   main pattern 4.75x5 or 5x4.75 depending on the direction you want the paper to go
   (you will need two per bag)
    flap  1.75x5
ribbon 
    about 12 inches of coordinating ribbon
velcro dots

Directions

cut your paper bag at 5 inches and fold the flap down.

cut your card stock and 7x5.25 and 5x5.25 (this is about 1/2 sheet of card stock)

score the 7x5.25 at 2 to make flap and add decorative papers (there will be a quarter inch border around each print.

cut slits in the 2 inch score line just big enough to slip ribbon thru and knot.

here it is knotted.

adhere decorated card to paper bag making sure that the opening is on the score line.

add front decorated card stock making sure that it's going the right way 5x5.25.

adhere the 2.75x2.75 on the 3x3. then adhere that piece to the flap taking care to only put adhesive on the top third.  You may also place velcro on at this time (couldn't find any at the time of the photo) match them up stick it to the flap and close the flap so that the velcro pieces match up and it sticks to the right place.

pre decor front

final project.  isn't it darling... It's really much easier than it looks.  Hope you try it.