Paper Bag Mania

One of the hottest trends in paper crafting now is the darling creation, the brown lunch bag brag book. They look incredibly hard to make but can actually be thrown together in an evening. This scrapbook is the perfect size for a small gift album. Let’s say you send a small group of family pictures to your parents every year at Christmas. An album like this is sure to make your mom glow when she pulls it out to show off her grandkids!

I’ll list all the supplies that I used to put together this particular book, but all kinds of substitutes can be used.

To make a 20-page book, you need five lunch size brown bags. You can use white if you prefer. Fold each lunch bag in half, top to bottom. Alternate the bags so that the open ends form every other page.

Now prep your background paper. I used an assorted package from Stampin’ Up! It gave me a variety of patterns that all coordinated with each other and took a lot of the guesswork out the project.

Cut 20 rectangles, sized 5” by 4 ¼”. Use as many different patterns as you want. For this album, I used 12 different patterns and repeated eight to finish my pages. You could limit yourself however you want.

The folded edge is the spine of your book so adhere the designer paper down on the other end of the pages. On the top half line your paper up so that equal amounts of the bag are showing around the three edges open end of the bag. On the opposite half, do the same over the bottom flap of the bag. Use the paper to cover both sides of the bag.

Now to bind your book. I put three double sets of holes in the spine, using a punch. You could also drill holes in the spine. Then thread the holes with colorful grosgrain ribbon. You can substitute cord, twine or brads instead of the ribbon.

Now for the fun! Use whatever you want to embellish your pictures and pages. I used my scrap pieces to make tags and more grosgrain ribbon. I used a coordinating cardstock to make pullouts for my pockets. I also stuck more photos in my pockets along with personal notes and gift certificates.

I like to use a variety of adhesives in my projects. For the base of my book, I wanted a lot of stability. I chose Sticky Strip. This is a great choice for your tough jobs. Most of the photos, photo mats, tags and larger accents I stuck down with glue dots. They are so quick and easy to use. Whatever you use, remember that it needs to be a permanent adhesive.

This scrapbook was a gift for a former boss and was a labor of love from all my coworkers. Some of them liked the book so much that I got several orders to make similar books for them.

Supply List
Spring Showers designer paper
Brown lunch bags
Sticky strip
Glue sticks
Mini glue dots
Double slot punch
1” circle punch
Looks Like Spring stamp set
Slot punch
Chocolate Chip ink pad
Chocolate Chip marker
Chocolate Chip cardstock
Tag punch
Small & large oval punch
Celery grosgrain ribbon
Apricot grosgrain ribbon
Taupe grosgrain ribbon
Chocolate grosgrain ribbon
Stapler & staples

Story ID:	1063
Written by:	Shannon Marie Hyle (bio, contact, other stories)
Story type:	Things to do
Location:	Belle Plaine Kansas USA
Year:	2006