I made these cute little bags for my sons' teachers this year. Back around May/June, I started seeing these cute little paper backpacks popping up on a lot of blogs for end of school year gifts. I've kept the idea in the back of my mind, knowing I'd use it one of these days. Christmas seemed to be a good time to try it out.
I searched the internet for a pattern and found this one at Split Coast Stampers. Since I have a Cricut and SCAL, I decided to convert her PDF pattern to a file I could cut. After working out the design to a cuttable version, including the right sized holes so I could use my Crop-A-Dile Big Bite and its grommets, I cut seven of these.
I realized nothing would really fit in the front pocket, so it's merely decoration. The stamp on the front is from Just Rite Stampers. I bought the set before Christmas last year and just now used them. (I'm really bad about buying stuff then not using it.) The name tags were cut first and then stamped with an Inkadinkado set that also hasn't been used until this year. (See what I mean? Lol.) So, even though the names aren't even, I think it lends a little bit of character to the package. Or maybe I'm just making excuses for myself, lol.
I was told that the teachers really appreciated them. The insides held chocolates and a Target gift card.
Below is the side and back of one of the backpacks.
Yes, I know I'm posting after the fact, but as everyone knows, things get hectic just before the holidays. I was good just to get them all completed and mailed! But now I'm sharing.
I used the smaller two Nestabilities poinsettia dies for the flower. I used Papertrey Ink Vintage Cream for the flower, sentiment and card base. After die cutting the poinsettia shapes, I ran them through my Cuttlebug with the Textile folder. The centers are from Want2Scrap.com.
I also used the Labels 4 Nestabilities for the sentiment and its backing. The backing is Dark Chocolate from Papertrey Ink. The outline around the sentiment is from Waltzingmouse Stamps' Very Vintage Labels No 4 set. The sentiment is from the Papertrey Ink Holiday Wishes set. Both are stamped in Papertrey Ink Dark Chocolate. The ribbon is Papertrey Ink Vintage Cream. The inside sentiment was another from the PTI set.
The patterned paper is from a Anna Griffin Christmas Scrapbook Cardstock stack. I used probably six different designs. They came in gold and silver designs, so I had an alternate color scheme of Vintage Cream and Smokey Shadow. I used Basic Basic ribbon from Michaels in a silver color for the ribbon.
Thanks for looking, and I hope everybody had a wonderful holiday!
This may be my Christmas card for next year.
The stamps (snowman, snowflakes on the maroon, and sentiment) are from an Inkadinkadoo set purchased from Costco. I don't have a membership, but a friend took me to our local Costco -- they didn't have the stamps. A gracious member of a group I belong to offered to buy the three sets of stamps and mail them to me. I was so excited when I received them and this is the result.
I will probably make changes by next year. For that matter, the entire design might change by then. There's so much time between now and then! One immediate change I'll make is to heat emboss the sentiment. The packaging on the silver card blank that was purchased on clearance at Target said it was printer friendly, but they lied. The paper does NOT take ink. These are the same blanks I used for this year's cards, and I tried everything, to no avail. I didn't really expect the sentiment to pop on this. It was only later that I thought maybe heat embossing in black would be a better plan. That, and the snowman won't be at such an angle. He looks like he's toppling over!
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