Making A Gift Bag from Recycled NewsPaper

This is a cute way to recycle your old newspapers and magazines into something you can use. These little gift bags are a fun way to give gifts and also recycle newspapers into something constructive. Of course, depending on the size paper you use will determine how big a gift bag you will ultimately have as a finished product. This project also works well with recycling gift wrapping as well. To create the bag in the picture, the dimensions are 5″ tall, 4.5″ wide, and 3″ deep. Here are the materials you will need besides the recycled paper.

Materials:

Newspaper or any recycled paper of your choice
Card Stock or Chipboard
Glue
Cord
*Eyelets

Step 1

You want to begin by stacking two sheets of newspaper on top of each other. This is a two-ply bag for extra sturdiness. Then cut a rectangle out 15.5″ wide and 8.25″ tall. If your paper already has a fold in it, align the existing fold with one of the fold lines in the diagram below, unless you don’t mind an extra fold appearing somewhere on your bag. In this case, you can cut the rectangle and then flip the paper over so the blue area would be on the outside of the bag.

Step 2

Fold a flap 1.25″ down from the top. Fold a flap 2″ up from the bottom. Then measure off and make vertical folds in the places shown in the diagram above. The front and back panels are 4.5″ wide; the side gussets are 3″ wide, and you’ll need a 0.5″ flap for gluing the bag together.

Step 3

Cut two pieces of card stock or chipboard to 4.25″ x 1″, then glue them on the widest two panels just under the top fold. These will reinforce the rim of the bag. Glue the top flap down along the length of the bag, covering the card stock. Since the bag is two-ply, you’ll need to glue both flap pieces down one at a time.

Step 4

Put glue on the outside of the 0.5″ tab and bring the left-most panel over to form the body of the bag, aligning the cut edge of the panel
Upend the bag, so the 2″ flap is now up. Fold the short sides inward as if you were wrapping a present. If it seems easier, you could also lay the bag on its side and crease those folds against the table with the folded edge of the flap. Add a little more glue to make sure the outermost sheet of newsprint gets tacked down, too.

Step 5

Put glue on both flaps and fold them inward to form the bottom of the bag. Standing the bag upright and pressing down from the inside will help to secure them.

Step 6

Cut a piece of chipboard to 4″ x 2.5″ and glue it to the bottom of the bag to reinforce it and hide the flaps if you want to be an overachiever.

Step 7

Punch holes in the rim of the bag, adding eyelets* if you like, and string some cord through the holes to form handles. Knot each end of the cord so it won’t pull out through the holes.