Altered Art
Creating Gift Bags Out Of Manila Envelopes
By Christine Ranson
Jan 27, 2006, 18:00

Here’s a simple and very inexpensive way to make your own gift bags! They’re great for any occasion, you can decorate them however you like, and the best part is you can personalize them for whomever you’re giving the gift to!

Turn a boring old envelope into a great gift bag!

Supplies needed:                                  

Manila envelope (any size)

Straight edge cutter

Scoring blade

Paint, ink or chalk

Adhesive

Fibers

Step 1: Seal the envelope and cut the top flap off.  

Step 2: Paint, ink or chalk in desired colors. Be creative! Use stamps, stickers, whatever you want to. If you use brads, be sure to only do them on one side of the envelope, by putting your mat inside the envelope. I don’t recommend using eyelets, as you can’t get inside the envelope to set them.

The envelope can be as plain or as decorated as you like!

Step 3: Score 1 inch in from each side edge, being sure to go all the way from top to bottom.

Step 4: Score 1 inch up from the bottom of the envelope, being sure to go all the way across

Step 5: Pop the envelope open, forming a box along the creases. You’ll end up with 2 triangles at the bottom, one on each side.

Step 6: Put adhesive on the inside of each triangle,

Step 7: then push them into the bottom of the bag.

Step 8: Fold the top down and fasten as you like. Another option would be to cut the top of the bag with decorative scissors and use paper cording to create handles. 

You can make different size bags by changing how far in you score the bottom and sides-just keep in mind that all 3 sides need to stay the same number. So if you score 2 inches in on each side, you must also score 2 inches in from the bottom.

To get this bag, I cumpled the envelope, then smoothed it out, and chalked it lightly. The tag was walnut inked, and the heart on the bag was made using red paint, then crackle medium and tan paint.