Happy Halloween!

Woah... where have I been yah?  I know, I've been MIA for awhile now, but I've been crazy busy!!  Took a break from cleaning up for Halloween to make this treat bag tutorial for you...

Back in July, I did some make 'n takes around Oahu and Hilo.  One of the make 'n takes we did was an easy peasy treat bag that I learned how to make from my CBFF Debi.  She showed me LOOOOOOONG time ago how to alter a paper bag to be a cute treat bag.  Thanks Debi!  Since I wanted to keep the make 'n takes relatively simple, I thought this would be a good project.

I had these paper bags leftover from the make 'n takes and my attempt at making the paper bag mini album (see my personal blog for that project).  To get the shape I wanted, I simply cut the top of the bag down to 5" high.  This made my bag square looking, but you can choose to cut it down to any length.

After cutting the bag, I cut two pieces of cardstock for each side (Doodlebug).  I cut them about a 1/4" longer than each side- in this case it was 5 1/4" x 5 1/4".  Then I adhered the cardstock to the bag. I think its important to use cardstock since its thicker than regular paper and will make your bag more sturdy.

Now pay attention... this part is important!  I made a few mistakes while coming up with my sample during the make 'n takes, so I thought I'd better let you in on this secret...  See how I pulled the sides of the bag out?  Do this before you punch any holes for the straps, otherwise you will have holes on the side of your bag!!! ha ha ha!  Yes, my first samples did have holes on the side.  So learn from my mistakes and don't do the same.

After pulling out the sides, I marked the bag where I wanted to punch my holes for the straps.  Decided on 1" in on both sides and about 1/2" down from the top.  The Tim Holtz clear ruler is awesome for this since you can see through the ruler.  After you mark where you want your straps, punch holes on the marks.

After punching the holes, I added the ribbon straps.  Be sure to make the ribbon longer than you need so you have enough room to tie knots on the inside of the bag.  After that, you're done!

Then comes the fun part... decorating!  Since its Halloween, I thought I'd alter the BFF image and turn them into witches!  First, I cut out a haunted house from an old Sizzix die.  Added the sentiment (Island Scrapbooking) over the black part so it would show.  Colored up the BFF's with my copics and then added the hats.  I punched the pointed part of the hat using my Stampin Up banner punch.  I ended up trimming off some of it since I didn't want it as wide.  I actually punched it on white and colored in that part of the hat so I could add some shading.  Then I used the Stampin Up oval punch for the base of the hat.  Again, I felt it was too big, so I punched it again using the same punch to make a narrower oval.  Then I just adhered the pointed part to the base and then onto the girl's heads.  Now I wish I didn't spend so much time on their hair!

Well, hope you enjoyed this mini tutorial.  And hope you have a fun and safe Halloween!

Be sure to check back later to find out more on our next release!