I don’t know about you but I really hate throwing things again that can be used for something else. My friends know this about me so I’m often given things with a “Can do anything with this?” I’m so lucky, my friends are the best!

Recently a friend gave me this pretty paper bag from the shop L'Occitane. Isn’t it fancy? Perfect to make into pretty greeting cards.

You are unlikely to have the exact same bag to upcycle as me but this idea might just inspire you to look at bags and other paper items and just check if they can be repurposed before they go into the recycling bin.

Today I’m joining the “Old to New Challenge” with this old paper bag to new greeting cards idea. Stay tuned at the bottom of this tutorial to see more “Old to New” craft ideas.

I took the bag apart and then just cut as many card sized pieces as I could get from it, avoiding the writing and any creased sections.

The top of the bag had a strip of card attached which wouldn’t come off without ripping the paper so I cut out some of the flowers and motifs from this area so I could use them to give my cards some depth.

I applied these card backed flowers over the top of similar flowers with little foam pads to lift them up. I have plenty of foam pads so that’s what I used for this. You can also use glue dots, check out my comparison of the two here - Foam pads v glue dots.

A little printed sentiment, a few gems glued on and some embroidery thread and my cards were finished.

I got 4 small square cards and 1 tall one from my pretty paper bag, quick easy papercrafting turning something old into something new.

Now let’s check out the other “Old for New” challenge ideas:

Gail | Purple Hues and Me | Ceramic Candle Lantern Update

Niki | Life as a LEO Wife | What will it be? A Cabinet Door Upcycle

Julie | Sum of their Stories | Upcycle a Pretty Paper Bag into Greeting Cards (that’s this tutorial!)

Do you have a pretty paper bag or two that could be upcycled into a greeting card or two?

Julie

I’ll be sharing this idea at these link ups

If you enjoy making cards you might also like to check out these other ideas: