Pretty Kraft-It-Yourself Favors

Basic kraft boxes and bags can make the prettiest favors when you embellish them with ribbons, tags and a simple die cut paper shape. 

I love the look of black and white with kraft. I would describe this combination as simple, elegant, natural, modern, organic and rustic. 

I added paper flower and birds that I created using vintage book pages to my favors. I think that these would make wonderful wedding favors for the diy bride would is looking to add a personal touch to her wedding. The only hard part is figuring out which kraft box or bag to use!

Our kraft take-out boxes have just arrived! 

I wrapped a wide black satin ribbon around the box and tied it at the top without a bow. You can see my tutorial for making paper flower here. I glued a vintage paper flower to small wood clothespin so that I could just clip it onto the ribbon. You can make simple paper tags to attach to the wire hanger on the take-out box. Say "thank you" or if you want to your favors to do double duty, add a guest's name to each tag so everyone will know where to sit.

Mod boxes come in lots of sizes and colours ... the kraft ones are my favourite.

Similar to the take-out box favor, I wrapped a wide black satin ribbon around the box, tied it at the top without a bow and attached a vintage paper flower on a clothespin. I used a Martha Stewart paper punch to decorate the bottom of a plain white tag and inserted it under the ribbon. Again, you can use the tag to add a thank you message or add a name to double as an escort card. 

We have an assortment of jewellery boxes available ... these kraft ones are a basic in my packaging supplies.

I tied a wide satin black ribbon and a grosgrain black and white stitched ribbon around the box. I attached a bird shape that I die cut from vintage papers to a small clothespin and then clipped it onto a small branch. The branch was woven between the ribbons to give this package an interesting look. You could easily tuck branches with fresh blossoms if you are making these up the day of your event. 

You've seen me use these kraft bags many times before. They are easy to 

make and if you looking for a a larger favor that will have a big impact these are perfect!

I used a Martha Steward paper edge punch to decorate the top of the bag. You can see my tips for using this punch on this post. I also used a tool called Sew Ribbon that you can see here to punch slots into the bag. Then I sewed a black ribbon through the slots to close the bag ... make sure that you add whatever you are putting into the bags into the bags before adding the ribbon! Another one of my vintage paper flowers that was glued to a small clothespin was added to the ribbon. You can use the clothespin to hang a gift tag or escort card to your bag favor. 

Before I go, I wanted to share one more favor idea with you. This one was created by one of our staff, Molly, for a bridal shower that she recently hosted. 

Molly was inspired by this post that I did with the cookie recipe in a jar gift and used the idea to create party favors. I think that they turned out really well. I love the the recipe tag that doubled as a escort card.  If you are looking for glass containers for favors or a sweet table we have a great variety of glassware available in our stores. 

let's get this party started with candy striped boxes, creative packaging ideas and Lorrie Everitt's free downloads for labels and tags

We are headed into that time of year when it is time to celebrate the end of school. Whether you have kids finishing their first year of kindergarten or their last year of elementary school, high school, college or university ... it's time to party!

At Creative Bag we have all of your packaging supplies - bags, boxes, ribbons, tissue and wrap as well as everything that you need for decorating, food presentations and sweet tables! 

I love all of the new chalkboard signs that we have in stores right now so I created a few free downloads using the chalkboard theme to use with our products. We recently received a new collection of candy striped boxes. The collection has four different boxes(mini and extra mini, pillow and mini take out)  and is available in six colours.

http://www.creativebag.com/boxes/mini-gift-box/mini-chinese-take-out-box.html?utm_source=Blog&utm_medium=+oh+my+test +&utm_campaign=May9+2013

Aren't they adorable? I especially love the little mini take out boxes. I knew they were going to be a hit when I brought some home to show my teenage daughters and they started fighting over them. 

You can see in the picture above that I used my "I love you to the moon and back" circle tags to decorate some of our beautiful matte finish bags by clipping them to the bag handles using small wood clothespins. I also added my gift tag to a glassine bag that I  filled with wood cutlery, a paper straw and a napkin. The adorable chalkboards signs with clothespin backs are available in two sizes - the large one is clipped onto one of our square vases and the small ones are clipped onto the handles of the mini take out boxes.  The chalkboard arrow sign comes with the stick and is a must have for any sweet table presentation!!

This download can be used for anytime of year. You can download the pdf file here. 

Please remember that all of my downloads are free for personal use only. 

I also created another download that has the chalkboard theme and can be modified by you to use for your graduate. 

(top right) Bitty bags were embellished with my celebrate tag. I folded over the top of the bag, punched two holes through all of the layers and tied the bag close using paper twine.

(middle left) I used a Martha Stewart paper edge punch to give a lace effect to our glassine bags. Baker's twine, one of my class of 2013  tags and a second gift tag that could double as an escort card were used to finish off the bag. Inside the bag is a paper straw, napkins and a smaller bitty bag that contained wood serving utensils.

(middle right) One of my gift tags was attached to a mini candy striped box using a small clothespin and paper twine.  

(bottom left) The wrapper was designed to fit a clear pail.  Download the eps file if you want to insert a photo in the frame area - you will need Photoshop to do this on your computer. Download the pdf file and you can add text in the white frame area to personalize the art. 

(bottom right) I attached one of the tags to a wood stick so that it could be used as a cupcake topper. 

Download the eps file here.

Download the pdf file here.

Quick note on printing these downloads. I used white cardstock to print on my home printer. Make sure that you print size as is. If you want to use a circle paper punch to cut out the circle tags - I used a 2.25" punch. 

kraft paper bag gift wrapping idea just in time for Mother's Day

It's easy to make small potted flowers look extra special by packaging them in paper bags. I like to buy potted bulbs in the spring for my home and to give as hostess gifts. I dress them up using paper bags, paper punches and ribbon. 

Here's how I do it:

one. Gather your supplies: small potted flowers, paper bag, paper edge punch, ribbon and scissors.

two. Trim the excess plastic wrapper on the pot.

three. Using a edge paper punch - we sell these in all of our stores - punch the top edge of your bag as shown above. You will be going through four layers of paper on the outside edges so  keep in mind that you will have to press down hard.

four. Gently roll the top of the bag down to form a cuff.

five. Place the potted flowers inside the bag.

six. Scrunch the bag in a little about mid way down and add a ribbon to decorate. 

And you are done! 

Looking for pretty packaging supplies for Mother's Day? Check out our Watercolor Garden Collection. I think that the watercolour printed paper bags look great with my brown paper bag flowers. I added a small tissue paper pom pom to the printed bag. You can find the tutorial for these here. 

Mom will love the extra effort you put into wrapping up her gifts. And you don't have to tell her how easy it was to do ... unless you want to!

We have so many new products that have arrived into our stores and I can't wait to share more ideas with you - and a couple of free downloads. 

Stay tuned for some grad party ideas. 

Creative Inspiration. Pretty floral bouquet packaging using wrapping paper.

 April showers bring May flowers. It's easy to make a bouquet of flowers ready for gift giving by using wrapping paper and twine.

This simple project will take a basic floral bouquet from ordinary to extraordinary!

So let's gather our supplies: kraft wrapping paper, patterned wrapping paper of your choice, ribbon or twine, a plastic candy bag, paper towel and scissors. 

1. You need to "water-proof" your stems so that the wrapping paper does not get soggy. I wrapped a wet paper towel around the ends of the stems to keep my flowers from drying out and then placed the stems into one of our clear candy bags. A piece of ribbon or twine was tied near the opening of the clear bag. (see top photo above)

2. Wrap a piece of kraft wrapping paper around the flowers so that it creates a bit of a cone shape. You can use a small piece of tape to hold the wrapping paper together if you wish.

3. Now wrap a piece of decorative wrapping paper over top of the kraft paper. The kraft paper will hide the plain white back side of the patterned paper and adds a decorative element with the double wrapping. Tie ribbon or twine a few times around the package to secure the wrapping paper. Add a gift tag, tie a bow and you are done!

Tip:  I folded the bottom end of the cone over once and tucked it into the opening so that the flowers could not fall through the end.

The reason that I used kraft paper wrapping paper with this project is because I knew that I was going to use a kraft gift tag and I wanted a more natural, organic look for this packaging project.  If you want a bolder look, you could have used solid wrapping paper in a colour to co-ordinate with your pattern instead of kraft paper.

I used a beautiful wrapping paper from our new watercolour garden collection that has just arrived in our stores and online. It works with so many beautiful colours you will be able to find lots of ribbons and tissue paper to co-ordinate with this collection.

Creative Bag will be on Rogers TV"s "Daytime Toronto" this Friday April 26th, 2013

Creative Bag has been invited to be on Rogers TV's live lifestyle magazine program - Daytime Toronto this Friday. 

The show will be live at 10am and repeats at 3pm and again at midnight. 

I will be there to show you how to make our popular tissue paper flower pom poms.

It's wedding season and I can't wait to show you what's in stores now.

I hope that you will tune in Friday. 

Create your own photo booth with our personalized photo booth backdrops

Photo booths are a fun idea for weddings, graduations, birthday parties or any special event. It's a great way to entertain your guests and it doesn't have to cost a lot of money to create one yourself. All you need to do is set up an area that will serve as a backdrop and provide a few props to allow people to "dress up" if they want to. 

We have a variety of different personalized photo booth backdrops available to order on line at Creative Bag Wedding. Every design option comes in a variety of different colours. The backdrops are very durable and measure 4' wide by 10' long.

Here's some tips on how to create your own photo booth:

1. Find an area that is suitable for a photo shoot. You want to have enough space for group shots and so that people can hang out and watch the fun. 

2. Set up up a small table or group of large baskets/container to organize "props" that guests can use if they want to "dress up" a bit. This is a perfect way to tie in a theme if you have one. 

3. Large empty picture frames and chalkboards also make excellent props. Remember to leave a container of chalk and a chalkboard eraser so that guests can write their own messages on the chalkboards. 

3. Don't want to hire a professional photographer for the photo booth? Ask a family member or friend that is handy with a camera if they would be interested in helping you out by taking photos for an hour or so. Or invite guests to take their own pictures using disposable cameras that are left on each table. 

4. Most guests will have cell phones with a camera and I guarantee that the photo booth area will be a busy area. You may want to leave a sign near the photo booth asking your guests to email you their pictures. You can load the photos onto a photo sharing website and share them with everyone after the event. 

Shop online at Creative Bag Wedding and receive 10% off your order by using promo code CBW10 when you check out!

Creative Evening Wedding Inspiration Workshop with Lorrie Everitt on Thursday April 18th, 2013

As I am writing this blog post I can see snow blowing past my office window ... who would have thought that we would have a winter storm in April? The weather reports are calling for freezing rain later this afternoon. I don't know about you but I am so ready for Spring right now.

Unfortunately, I had to cancel our Creative Evening Wedding Inspiration Workshop in Mississauga tonight. 

We will be running the event next week on Thursday evening instead. There are opening for a few more people so if you are interested in attending send me an email and I'll add you to the list. Here's more details ... 

Interested in saving shipping charges and 10% off on all personalized wedding products from our online wedding shop? You will be able to special order products after the workshop. You can see all of our personalization options and products at Creative Bag Wedding. All special orders will be delivered to a Creative Bag store of your choice for in store pick up.