I’ve figured out why they call it “The Merry, Merry Month of May”.  If ever a month came pre-loaded with celebrations, May wins the prize!

There’s the given – graduations.  They rarely come in singles.  There always seems to be a wedding or two, not to mention showers in anticipation of the weddings in June.  Mother’s Day comes along and since a portion of those mothers became one in May, there are birthdays and the parties that go with them.

Do you ever feel like you’re spending more on gift wrap than gifts?  I’m definitely a rescuer and a saver, but I don’t want to go down in history as the lady who left this earth having owned the most cottage cheese containers.  I want a purpose or a re-purpose for my stash.  I want to do something with my frugal hoard and part of that hoard is merchandizing bags from stores that I just know I can turn into beautiful gift bags.

Today, I want to share a money saving idea you can pull off without losing your mind.  All you need is store bags (hopefully ones that do not have wrap-around logos printed on them), scissors, ruler, glue and your “stash” – whatever that means to you – and possibly some kids or grandkids if you really want to have some fun and you are one of those people who is at peace with the concept that it’s the process that counts – not the product.

Here’s part of my stash, including the gift bag project in mid-progress.  I have a Cricut die-cutting machine.  Believe it or not, I even got that at the Goodwill Store!  Don’t tuck your tail between your legs if you don’t have a fancy machine.  I’ll give you some ideas for working without one.

I find that Dollar Tree and Tuesday Morning are great sources for finding doo-dads on the cheap.  A full sheet of sparkly jeweled stickers for around a dollar will last you through many a creative binge.  I do some scrapbooking, so I always have leftover snippets and papers to cut up for projects.  You can often pick up a book of coordinating papers at Hobby Lobby at half price, but if you don’t want to do that, scrounge around for some cardstock, old wallpaper or wrapping paper that isn’t too thin.  Kids love working with thin, colorful sheets of fun foam, available at Hobby Lobbyand they can cut out flowers, leaves, trucks, letters and numbers and anything else they have a notion to draw or trace onto the foam.  Dollar stores also have full sheets of themed embellishments for scrap-bookers.  All you have to do with those is cover the bag’s logo with a shape you’ve cut from foam or paper and stick the embellishments all over it and your once-a-throw-away bag is redeemed.  How about the fronts of those fancy greeting cards you’ve been given?  There’s some fabulous artwork you can use to decorate your bags!

If the bag rescue idea appeals to you, but you want to avoid the expense of a Cricut or other machine, there are some fun tools to watch for when you’re out bargain hunting.  Decorative scissors are inexpensive and will trim the edges of your papers into scallops, ocean waves or a number of other designs.  They are usually around five dollars.  Punches are fabulous things.  You can align paper along a printed guide, punch the design and slide the paper again to punch long strips or all the way around a shape.  They come in geometrics, florals, eyelet and lace designs and more. I’ve found them at Tuesday Morning at prices between three and ten dollars, depending on the size.  Martha Stewart makes quality punches in varied styles. Visit the link to see what is available and then watch for sales in stores that carry office and craft items. Metallic pens come in a wide array of colors and can be used to add sparkle to the edges of cut paper.  If you have no fancy scissors or tools, why not tear the edges of your paper by hand?  Once you’ve given it a jagged edge, use the metallic pens to highlight the torn edges and make them pop against the background.  Backgrounds are important.  A layered effect always makes an embellishment project look much more professional.

Since I do have a Cricut machine (and they are marvels, to be sure), I used leftover scrapbooking paper to cut designs that I felt would be useful for any upcoming gifting needs.  As you can see, I just glued the design onto its contrasting background and then glued the whole thing right over the original business logo.

Next, I used a few cheap stickers from my sparkly jewel collection to add some pizzazz to the design.  You certainly don’t have to do this, but even just a few tiny embellishments will take your design to the next level and give it a designer flair rather than just a look’s-like-she-couldn’t-find-a-gift-bag-but-she-could-find-a-gluestick-project.

Here are the bags, before and after being be-jeweled.  Little things mean a lot, don’t they? Zoom in for the thrill of the sparkle.

Speaking of glue, I highly recommend Martha Stewart craft glue as seen here.  It dries clear, doesn’t string, gives you thirty seconds or so for wiggling items into place and then the items stay put!  If I run out of it, I will put off a project until I can get some because of the frustration it saves me.

Once you’re finished, the bags are ready for colorful tissue and maybe even a cute tag or a ribbon tied onto the handle if you want to get that fancy.

Here are my finished bags.  Now for the rest of the stack I have saved up in the closet. Call me cheap, but my mama would be proud!

I do love a rescue project and handmade gifts and this combines the two.  Need more ideas?  Take a look at the wooden utensil project I did with my friend Kathy here, the falling-off-a-log-easy gifts here, rescued vintage tablecloths here, Sweet Annie wreaths here, and what to do with those pretty leaves you can’t resist picking up here.  After all that, you’ll need to treat yourself.  Relax with some homemade sugar scrub here.

Any questions?  I’d love to hear your comments.  Is there anything you’ve repurposed that the rest of us are throwing away?