How to make a folded gift bag

This sweet little folded gift bag measures approximately 8cm x 5cm x 5cm (3’ x 2” x 2”) and can be used for a small gift for any celebration. I’ve made a few for Christmas and for other events!

The folded gift bag is made using origami techniques. The only glue is to hold the handles and top flaps. A free pdf will be available soon in my shop, but the basic instructions are given below and you can see me make it in the video.

It is made from an A4 size piece of Designer Series Paper, though any size of rectangle will do, just not much smaller than A4 or the bag will be too tiny to be useful (and difficult to fold)! When choosing your DSP, make sure that the pattern is not directional and that the reverse side is a complementary colour and pattern as this will show on the top of the bag.

I’ve added a selection of Designer Series Papers that are suitable for these folded gift bags at the end of this post.

INSTRUCTIONS

Note: I have illustrated these instructions using a plain white piece of paper for clarity.

With the piece of DSP in portrait mode, fold the bottom edge up to the top edge. Be careful to match the edges exactly. Burnish well.

Now fold the right hand side over the left hand side, match up the edges and burnish well.

Open the previous fold out again. Fold an edge into the centre and mark the bottom crease. Repeat on the other side.

Keep a finger on that mark and fold the outer bottom corners up around 2.5cm (1″). It should look like this:

Open those folds back then fold the triangle formed into the gap between the two sides of the paper. Repeat on the other side. Burnish well, then fold the sides closed again.

Now fold the outer side piece into the centre. Burnish well and fold it in again, making a second fold.

Repeat for the other three sides. It should now look like this:

Fold the bottom up on both sides – it is now a thick piece of paper, so take care!

Fold the top down. Add some tear & tape and stick the handle on.

Fold over to stick down. Fold over once more and add tape to stick the top down to the side. Repeat on the other side.

Carefully open up the bag. From above it looks like this:

I hope these instructions are clear. Do check out the free pdf in my online shop via the tab above, but watch the video if you are unsure.

Thank you for taking the time to read my post.

Don’t forget – you get a FREE tutorial of eight cards when you place an order with me. There’s a different set every month. And, if your order is over £40, you will also get to choose stuff from my online shop to the value of your order!

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