Go Green With Your Gift Bags

Photo and tutorial at Made By Teens

 

Having a 'green wedding?' (or at least making the effort?) Why not make your own out of town gift bags? The gift bags shown are made from newspapers with some doilies and ribbon (oh yes, and a little glue.) For the full tutorial head to Made By Teens and see the step by step directions.

 

Why enrich Hallmark or American Greetings when you can do it yourself and not only save $$ but impress your guests with your thoughtfulness by doing it yourself?

 

Fill the bags with packets of granola,  Santé nuts, bottled water or a bottle of Honest Tea, the ideas are limitless! (And don't forget if you have guests bringing children pack them their own bag including Happy Tot Juice from Happy Family or some of their great organic munchies.

 

Be sure to add maps of the area, some ideas for tourists (we're lucky, we live near Philadelphia, so there is no shortage of ideas), ideas for local restaurants (including some that are family friendly.) Make your guests feel at home. You know you will be super busy the day before and day of the wedding so preparing these bags ahead of time makes them feel like you are thinking of them even at your busiest.

Make Your Own Gift Bags

The Toymaker has several different designs for DIY gift bags for any occasion, but perfect for wedding or shower favors.  Yes, I know, it says Toymaker, but her graphics are great! and the PDF files at her web site are free and easy to use.  It will take a little time to put them together, but if you like crafting, it isn't hard to do.  We all know my craft skills are nil... and I managed to put together bags I wouldn't be ashamed to hand to a guest on my 2nd try...(yeah, I admit, it took me 2 tries, but I tried to shortcut the directions... I should know better!).  Visit The Toymaker and find several other designs, as well as some great designs for boxes (these take a little more work though). Her site also has lots of fun paper toys that you could add to a children's table to keep them busy.  Drop The Toymaker a note of thanks if you use her files.

Gift Favor Bags with Butterfly Theme

Martha Stewart once again comes through with a DIY project that wows!  These butterfly bags can be filled with soap, stationary, cookies, or almost any favor you can think of or they could be used as bags for your out of town guests.  These pretty bags are made with a green gift bag, an off-white lunch bag, double-sided tape, hot glue, a mini clothespin, a fabric butterfly and name tags.  For specific directions and more photos visit Martha's web site.  I think you'll agree Martha and her staff have once again given us great ideas that are easy to execute.