I’ve been MIA for a few days due to my daughter’s college graduation. There were many events to attend from awards ceremonies to breakfasts to the actual commencement exercise! It was a wonderful couple of days and we are so proud of her and can’t wait to see what she does next. Leading up to the event I had time to make special gift bags to use to give to her suite mates and team mates (she played field hockey). As part of my Facebook Live demo I promised to post instructions for the gift bags on my blog so here goes!

First you will need one sheet of 12 x 12 Designer Series Paper (DSP), two sheets of coordinating 8 1/2 x 11 card stock, and Tear & Tape adhesive.
- For base, cut card stock to 7” x 11” (save 1 1/2″ by 11″ strip for border )
- Score at 2” all the way around (on 11” side score at 2” & 9”; on 7” side score at 2” & 5”)
- Crease along score lines
- On 11” side cut score line in 2” (to next score line – see bold line in diagram)

- Fold up ends to form box and secure with Tear & Tape
- For purse sides, cut one 12” x 12” DSP in half – trim each piece to 11 ½” (you now have two 6 x 11 ½ pieces)
- Tape two pieces together with Tear & Tape
- On each 6” end of DSP place a strip of Tear& Tape, one on front of one end and one on back of opposite end. Attach two pieces together
- To attach purse side to bottom, place Tear & Tape along lower inside edge of DSP
- Gently begin to wrap DSP to box getting as close to edge as possible and making sure 6” end with Tear & Tape on the front side of DSP is first attached to box. Side with Tear & Tape on back of DSP should be the last to get attached to box base.
- Cut one additional 1 ½ inch x 11” strips of cardstock for band at bottom of purse (you should have one from when you trimmed the first piece of card stock to 7″ x 11″). If you have a scallop edger, you may want to use it to scallop edge of bottom band
- Attach two strips together with Tear & Tape and adhere to bottom of purse with Tear & Tape (just like you did for the purse sides)
- For handles, cut two 1” x 11” strips of card stock.
- Leaving about 1 ½ inches at each end, fold in half – length wise
- Gentle bend into handle shape and adhere each end on outside of purse with Tear & Tape
- OPTIONAL – Cut ¾ inch circles and adhere to handles on purse to look like buttons. Adhere with Tear & Tape

Here are the supplies I used to make the purses. I didn’t use the same DSP or cardstock shown below. There are just representative of the DSP and cardstock needed to make the purse. You can purchase all of these items on my website by clicking here. Please note the 3/4″ Circle punch will retire on June 3rd so if you want it, you must order it by June 3, 2019 or else it’s gone forever!
