Bag-A-Lope

One of the first things I learnt to make when I first became a Demonstrator 7 years ago was the Bag-A-Lope...a gift bag made from an envelope.  I remember being so excited about this project that I showed it to everyone for a few years!  I had since kind of forgotten about it, but my memory was jogged in Phoenix during a demonstration where the presenter made a Bag-A-Lope with the new Glassine Bags.  I was wowed and have brushed the cob webs from my bag-a-lope files in my head and made these.

Aren't they sweet?  Here's a close up of one of them.

It's just a plain Glassine Bag scored and folded into a gusseted bag.  I will show you how a little later in the post!  The top of the bag was punched with the Scallop Edge punch and then I tied the bag shut with some Regal Rose Ribbon (check it out...another great bow!).  Take a closer look at that cute little card.

It's a Hug!  Folded in half with some Sweet Pea Stitched Felt and one of the Chat Room Rub Ons (in Chocolate Chip)!  The Chat Room Rub Ons are great...you get so many perfect little sayings in the package with one Whisper White sheet and one Chocolate Chip sheet.  Definitely well worth the price!  Wouldn't you love to come to work in the morning and have that sitting on your desk?  Or how about this one?

To add a little pizzazz to this one, I ran the Glassine Bag through my Big Shot with the Finial Press Embossing Folder before making it into the Bag-A-Lope. 

Here's a closer look at the texture on the bag and the super cute tag (and another bow...I'm on a bow roll!!)!  The tag was done with the SU Two Tags Die.  There's so many things you can do with that die...definitely a "must have" in your collection!  I used the Hearts 'O Plenty wheel with Real Red ink along the one side of the tag and embellished it with some punched shapes.  I used the new flower punch in the Occasions mini and also the new heart punch...I punches 5 little hearts from the Sending Love DSP and fanned them around the big flower, then topped it with a 3/4" circle and a Button Latte Button (complete with faux thread...a tiny strip of cardstock!).

The top of this bag was simply folded over and punched with the Scallop Edge Punch.  Here's a little tip...when you are punching holes to thread the ribbon through you will want to place a small piece of cardstock between the Glassine Bag layers to add stability and strength for pulling the ribbon through the holes.  Have a look (sorry about the blurry picture)...

Now, as promised, here's how to make a Bag-A-Lope.  First you want to score 1" in from either side and up from the bottom of the Glassine Bag.

Be careful to score gently so you don't go right through the bag!  The score lines will form the edges of the bag, so once it's scored, you will want to open it up and for the bag.

Once you've got it formed into a bag, you will have two triangle flaps at the bottom.  You will want to apply some Sticky Strip to these flaps and stick them down on the bottom of the bag.

Once you've done that, you can embellish how you want and finish off your little package.  The Glassine Bags are great for holding all kinds of treats.  They're perfect for chocolates and even cookies.  you know how sometimes when you package cookies, grease soaks through the package and *gasp* ruins the package?  Well, that won't happen with these bags!  And, becuase I know you want to know, I filled my bags with these...

Now, chocolate and peanut butter is one of those perfect combinations...so do yourself a favor and buy an extra bag when you're shopping so you can have a little snack while you're making these for your special someone!  You deserve a treat too!!!

See you tomorrow!