Wednesday, August 25, 2010

PTI - August Blog Hop - Brown Bag Challenge



Hi and welcome to my stop on the August PTI Blog Hop. This month Nichole challenged us to

"dress up, alter, change an ordinary brown lunch bag into a paper crafting work of art."

Well, I don't know about the work of art part, but I turned a brown paper lunch sack into a vase.





I've done similar projects before, but never with any sort of decoration. On a few occasions I added one to a dinner tray I took to friends that were recuperating from surgery or experiencing other health issues. I think it added a delightful surprise and certainly brought a smile. Just soak a piece of Oasis in water, place it in a plastic bag and then into the lunch bag. You can add a bit more water if desired, but consider how you will be transporting your gift. You might want to let the recipient do that. And in the end there's no container to worry about or return. I wish I knew where I first saw this idea. I did a Google search, but was unsuccessful.

I thought many participants would go the school or lunch route, so I thought I would try a different angle. Here I chose to use Boards and Beams and make it a gift for a new neighbor. I had considered doing direct stamping on the bag, but that didn't work very well. My markers didn't work on the thin paper. So I resorted to stamping, coloring, and then cutting out the image.

I began by ironing the bag to try and flatten those pesky folds. Try explaining that to your husband. I rarely press a shirt! The tree and sentiment were stamped directly on the bag. Here's a closer shot of the stamping.



I hope you liked it. I'm excited to get started and see all the fabulous projects you all have made. Enjoy the Hop! Thanks for hopping by.

Supplies
Stamps: PTI Boards and Beams, Home Made, Through the Trees
Paper: PTI Soft Stone
Ink: PTI Pure Poppy, Momento Tuxedo Black
Other: Brown Lunch Bag, Copics, Westrim Jute Packaging Twine, flowers from our garden

39 comments:

Diane Jaquay said...

What a gorgeous, "country" bag this is, why, it reminds me of Lancaster County! hee hee

Carol's Ink Spot said...

I love this idea! Thanks for the tip to cut out an image if you want it to show up. This is lovely and such a nice idea. Are those flowers from your garden? Beautiful!

peggysue said...

I like the use of that set that was a great idea. What a pretty idea too! Those flowers would make a welcome gift and I love the twine.

Sue Ann said...

The bag is lovely and the part about ironing is too funny!! The flowers that you chose to put in the bag work perfectly ....... wow this all really works well together!!!

Sue Ann said...

WOW this is so beautiful...... and I love he part about the ironing. The flowers are so beautiful ~~ really this is just a beautiful presentation ......all of it!!!

Anonymous said...

I've seen this done in a few magazines, even Martha Stewart I think. But none were as nice as this one!

Karen C. said...

A very unique gift. Love the house image and sentiment.

kari bell said...

absolutely stunning!

Julie said...

Just gorgeous!

Amy Kolling said...

This is soo pretty! Great job!

Mona Pendleton said...

WOW! Your gift bag is fabulous! Your coloring is amazing! Quite the homespun feel to it :) TFS

Kay D said...

Fantastic idea for a paper bag- I love it!

Kara said...

how sweet...what a beautiful project!!

Kirsty Vittetoe said...

What an awesome project, I wish i have you as neighbor!

Terri Trotter Earley said...

What a fun bag for a welcome to the neighborhood gift.

It's a good life!
Terri E.

Cathy Weber said...

This is such a great idea. Love the house and welcome to the neighborhood sentiment on it. One of the most creative I have seen tonight.

Dr. Ivy said...

This is so clever and I do think it is a work of art. Thanks for sharing.

Anika said...

This is so pretty, Linda!

Lisa said...

This is an absolutely fabulous gift idea!!!! Love that image!!!

Laurie said...

Linda what a fun idea! I love it! And your flowers are so pretty!

Kristii said...

I love it!!!! Such a great idea!!!!

Christi said...

this is my favorite project that I've seen tonight - so different and clever!

Paula Laird said...

This is awesome! I never know how to transport flowers. Perfect stamps for it!

Lorus! said...

Beautiful stamping and coloring! What a great idea too!

Kelly S. said...

I LOVE this idea, GORGEOUS flowers!...and I am totally trying to stamp/color Boards and Beams in white on kraft! It looks amazing, and it hasn't seen ink here in tooo long! Thanks for the inspiration!

Victoria said...

Oh wow! Your coloring always amazes me! You did a fabulous job!

Jen Carter said...

Love this!! This is such a creative use of a bag!

Lori said...

What a great idea! Love the scene you created.

BethieJ said...

Your bag is DARLING!!! I LOVE it! and shhhh I too iron paper, and bags but NOT DHs shirts.. lets not tell him!! LOL!!
Have a GREAT day.. Happy Hopping!

Ally said...

What a cute, cute gift!

IamDerby said...

Love this, so cute!

Jen said...

Great idea, and it looks so much better than a jam jar!

Theresa Tyree said...

Now here's an original idea! I love the shading on the roof of your little house. Fantastic!

Tigriswillreign said...

I love, love, LOVE what you did here! That sweet little scene is GORGEOUS! What a terrific idea!!

Sue Lelli said...

What a FAB idea as a welcome gift! LOVE the house and the stamping and the ironing story!!!

Angy said...

I love this! Such a great idea and gorgeous too!

Erica said...

Beautiful bag and a wonderful gift.

Terri said...

What a great idea! Love the way you decorated the bag too!

scrapsnsuch@gmail.com said...

Such a simple bag can be sooo fun! Great idea and perfect for a housewarming!