I met Varya through the Multicultural Kids Blog and I am deeply impressed by her creativity and her great ideas for different art projects to do with children. Varya is also mom to a spirited little girl who I am sure has inherited her talent and creativity from her mom! Please check out Varya's blog- I am a follower, and maybe encouraged by Varya's posts, I'll try my hands at different art projects? Thanks, Varya for the great post and the inspiration!
How to decorate a bag for birthday present
How to decorate a bag for birthday present
My daughter loves painting. Painting is very relaxing for her. She can created for a long time and she uses a LOT of paper. I always feel bad to throw away these creations and a while ago I decided we will just upcycle them - make wrapping for presents, re-use for other craft and recently we also started decorating bags that we carry presents in for her friends' birthdays.
In China everything comes in beautiful packages. Sometimes the package is much bigger than the content! Over the past few years I have collected various paper bags from different occasions. However, these paper bags have designs and names of the shops and it isn't always appropriate to use them.
So here is a very simple idea for you and your child to utilize any paper bag and reuse it! Whenever we talk about reusing (upcycling) my daughter's art, we also talk about how we don't waste resources and that reusing something helps us protect the environment.
This craft is appropriate for children from 2.5 up. Though if a younger child is interested - you can always involve him/her into the peeling and sticking process!
You will need:
1 paper bag with handles (we removed them first and put them back in once we were done)
Some of your child's pictures (drawings, paitings, finger paintings etc)
Double-sided tape
Variation: Make your own paper bag from upcycling materials, such as soft carton boxes, thick construction paper!
How to make it:
- Apply double-sided tape on the edges of the bag and randomly in the middle. Remove the paper gradually as you stick on the pieces of paper.
- Stick the pieces of paper in order to cover the whole bag. The more colorful your child's pictures are - the more fun the end result is!
The bags are ready to be used! These creations are always a big hit with friends and family!
I hope you enjoy decorating your own paper bags!

Varya works with children from birth to 6 years old, parents and pregnant women. You can connect with Varya on FB (http://facebook.com/ xiaomeishujia), Pinterest (http://pinterest.com/vasate), Twitter (http://twitter.com/Varya) and Sulia (http://sulia.com/ littleartists).