Bagelopes

I made some bagelopes with my chum Sarah from Sarahs Cards last year as a make and take at the NEC, and I got them published in Simply Cards and Papercraft this year too. I can't claim them as my own idea, I read about them on t'interweb but I thought it might be something good to share. They are easy to make and it's something you can do with children. All you need is a humble envelope and then you can decorate them as you like. I like to do do rubber stamping on mine, if you are going to do the same, make sure you do it BEFORE you make the envelope into a bag! In the example above I used stamps from Banana Frog

Step 1

Take an envelope and either cut or tear off the top flap, you can use decorative scissors if you like.

Step 2

Fold up the bottom of the envelope about 1 inch, crease quite firmly, you can use a bone folder if you like, then open the fold up

Step 3

Fold in the sides of the envelope to the same width as the bottom fold, it's important that you make the folds the same size otherwise you will end up with a "wonkylope" ha ha ha !! Use a bone folder if you like. Then open the folds up.

Step 4

Put your hand in the envelope to "sit" the envelope flat on it's bottom

Step 5

Turn the "bag" upside down and maeke 2 points creasing them firmly.

Put glue on the underside of each flap and stick down, you can put your hand back in the bag and push down on a flat surface to help the sticking process.

Step 6

Hold the bag upright and sharply crease down the folds on either side of the bag to give the bag it's shape

Step 7

Fold down the top of the bag creasing firmly, then you can punch a hole in the top to thread a ribbon through. Ta-Da!! your bagelope is done!

If you make a bagelope I'd love to see your creations, post them on your own blogs and let me know and I'll link to them from here - have fun!!!