When I receive gifts in gift bags, I always keep the gift bags with the idea of recycling them, either as a bag for another gift, or as inspiration for a craft project. I recently received a gift bag with a beautiful floral pattern, and decided to recycle this bag by using the cut-out flowers to make a birthday card.
Approximate Time: 30 minutes
Supplies:
- 8.2" x 6" light blue marbled cardboard
- 3.6" x 5.6" metallic paper
- one used gift bag with a floral pattern
- skeleton leaves, approximately 3-4
- 3D self-adhesive foam squares
- pencil
- ruler
- a pair of standard scissors
- quick-drying glue
- one A4 sheet of white paper
- one light blue marbled envelope
Instructions:
- Fold light blue marbled cardboard in half to create a card 4.1" x 6". Use the ruler to make the fold neat and smooth.
- Glue the 3.6" x 5.6" metallic paper to the front of the card, carefully ensuring that it is an equal distance from the edges.
- Carefully cut out the flowers from the used gift bag. I only used the flowers from the one side of the gift bag, saving the other flowers for another project.
- Arrange the leaves and flowers in place, and glue them to the front of the card.
- Create a 3D effect: for some flowers, glue the whole flower flat to the cardboard, and for others, use the self-adhesive foam squares to lift certain parts of the flowers from the background.
- Use the string that was attached to the original gift bag to "frame" the design.
- Print a message on the white paper, cut it to the correct size and paste it to the inside of the card.
By Benetta from Pretoria, Gauteng
