A little while ago a friend gave me some tall thin paper bags, bottle bags, with large numbers drawn on them.

Perfect for upcycling into pretty gift bags.

This idea will work with any size or shape of paper bag, the ones I had just happened to be tall and thin.

The first thing to do is remove any damaged or marked parts of the bag if they are near the top. On my bags I just sliced off the top section with the numbers, using some scalloped scissors.

Next I broke out my stash of pretty papers and other craft bits and pieces and got decorating.

No rules here, layer paper up, add paper flowers, lace, ribbon, washi tape, whatever bits and pieces you have in your stash.

I cut shapes from pretty papers, like these swans and flowers.

These pretty doily type papers were a little pad from Papermania called Vintage Notes. This pack is similar too.

Punch holes in the top and thread a little twine through to secure the bag. Add a gift tag too, just cut a tag shape from kraft card or use a tag shaped punch.

I had fun playing with different bits from my craft stash. A little off cut of lace and a ribbon rose was fixed on with Anita’s tacky PVA - my favourite pva glue.

The butterfly and ribbon rose were both saved from old greeting cards and have been sitting in my stash waiting for the perfect project.

This one has lace, a paper flower a small gem and a strip of wallpaper.

This pretty flowery paper was a scrap from the pull out pages of an old Mollie Makes Magazine. The card flower was another embellishment rescued from an old greeting card.

Even tiny scraps of pretty paper can be used up. I used the scalloped scissors again here.

Easy, pretty and a fun way to use some bits and pieces from your craft stash.

I’ll be sharing this idea at these link ups