Xmas Gift Bags for Baked Goods

I love baking cookies and packaging them attractively for gift giving.  I'm always scouring the shelves at HM Ben Franklin Crafts for cute Xmas bags or boxes.  This year I found an economical set of 8 handled bags that were just the right size for amount of cookies I am giving to friends.  The bags were rather plain but attractive because of their rustic look.

There are lots of thin dies that you can find at BFC to cut the windows.  You will need to insert a small cutting platform into the bag and probably add a few shims to cut out the desired shape.  After die cutting, I backed the windows with clear acetate and adhered it with double stick Merikan/Heiko tape.

 The most fun part for me is adding the embellishments to the bags.  I found Martha Stewart felt snowflake ribbon, checkered American Craft ribbon and 'Let It Snow' Darice ribbon in my stash. I know that you can find lots of decorations in your collection of Xmas stuff because all crafters are hoarders too.

The new ribbon that I purchased this year from Ben Franklin Crafts is the printed burlap wide ribbon. I love it and plan to use it on many projects this year and for years to come *wink* (lots of yardage). For a closure to the bags, I clipped on tiny clothes pins (Canvas Home Basics) which I feel are the perfect finishing touch.

The holly garland with pips were also in my collection of Xmas trimmings but I'm sure that it is a staple in BFC. The pack of printed tags (Canvas Home Basics) was another new item I bought this year because it has lots of food related sentiments and saves me the trouble of stamping my own tags.  At this point in time I am looking for shortcuts so I have more time to bake.

You may be wondering why I'm showing the Santa monkey 10 bag set.  Well, when I totally run out of crafting time, I will resort to pre-made packages like this cute monkey one with the window mouth. I am telling you this just so you will get some for your back up plan, too. LOL! Okay, it's time for me to get back to crafting and baking.  Come back for another visit, soon!