Homemade Gift Bags

I have always loved wrapping Christmas presents. I would pump the Christmas tunes or perhaps turn on a Christmas movie, and then spread everything out on the living room floor and just go at it. I would pick the prettiest wrapping paper and the shiniest ribbons, and would coordinate and apply them for maximum effect. Then I would expertly arrange them under the tree. Everything had to match and coordinate with the tree as well, of course.

Then on Christmas morning everyone would tear into everything and all my pretty paper and ribbons would head straight into the trash.

A few years ago I started to realize the wastefulness of wrap, so I started using the reusable gift bags wherever possible. They did not arrange as nicely under the tree or look as pretty, but oh well. At least we could put them back into the bag bin and use them again. The odd big toy package still got wrapped.

This year I decided to take it one step further. I want to use homemade gift bags. As of this morning, I now have 6:

Quite a cute brunch, no?

My mom and sisters and I all decided to make some this year. We now have a pact to use them for inter-family gifts only. So you give one, you get one, then you give different ones next year, and they just rotate through the family. These are the ones I made with them:

  

Then I got out the scrap material left over from my sewing my living room curtains 6 years ago, and made two of these. Dupioni silk looks much better all trussed up under the tree, instead of tucked away in the scrap drawer. Don’t you think?

This one was made out of green velvet pants I wore in high school. I was in love with these green velvet pants (hey it was the 90s!). When they finally gave out I could not part with them, so I cut them up into smaller bits of fabric. They now have a new life as a purse-like bag, embroidered with some holly leaves (yes I did that part too!) and a vintage button.

So starting this Christmas I will no longer use a scrap of wrap!