Easy Christmas Decor Craft - Paper Bag Snowflakes Tutorial


Howdy-doo Cottage Friends,

I've mentioned previously that I'm a bit of a Youtube junkie. I just can't seem to help myself. . .I can view everything from pastoral messages to crafting, and many topics in between --  all for free. When I came across the making of paper bag snowflakes on one of my favorite DIY channels, I did a happy dance. Now maybe you're familiar with this craft, as I think it's actually been around for awhile. But I had never seen it until yesterday. I knew immediately I had to try it. And now I'm going to share it with you, because I think you might want to try it, as well.

This is going to be of special interest to those of you who comment frequently that you don't have the crafting or DIY "skills" that I have. (Personally, I think that's just not true. I feel as though if I can do something anyone can. But I regress.) This is a craft that will take you back to your childhood paper snowflake chain making days. So think of this as that childhood paper craft with a twist. You'll see what I mean in a minute.

To create a paper bag snowflake, you'll only need three readily available items. In fact, you likely already have all three in your home:


Scissors
7 or 8 Lunch Bags
Glue Gun

That's it!

Now, to make your snowflake, start by running glue in a "T", as shown. The top of the "T" is the folded end of the bag.



Place the second bag on top and press over the "T" to secure.



Continue making "T"s and placing bags on top, pressing them down to adhere, until all your bags are joined.

Next cut the bottom of the bag in a point, and cut notches out of the sides as shown. (Note: cut out as few or as many notches as you like.)



Now open up the bags like an accordion.



Glue the bottom two bags together in the same manner you glued the others. Voila! A snowflake.



As you can see in the photo, I had a little mishap with cutting the notches on my first attempt. No matter. I was able to glue those broken ends together.

I made a second snowflake that went just fine.



Finally, I made one more snowflake in a smaller size. I cut off the top of the bags and then I used a dry brush method to add chalk paint to the bags.





This time I vertically folded the open end of the first bag to form a point, and then made my cut.



I cut notches, too, and this created a template for the rest of the bags. I found that cutting through all 7 bags at once was a little difficult, and this method made it easier, and gave me cleaner cuts.



I did this before gluing the individual cut bags together. And then finished off this smaller snowflake just as I did the first two. The only change was the painting and the cutting.

These snowflakes were so simple and fast to make. It only took about 15 minutes to make the first two snowflakes, and only a little longer to complete the painted, smaller snowflake.

I'm in love with these snowflakes, and the natural paper color is perfect for my more neutral Christmas color palette this year. I can imagine adding some embellishments to make them special.




I'll share the link to Teresa's channel Our Green Acres in case you'd like to view an in-person tutorial, as well as see how she made her snowflakes shabby chic farmhouse. She is so talented, and stages her creations beautifully.



I hope you enjoyed this post, and that it will inspire you to make some paper bag snowflakes of your own. They really are fun to make. (Also, as you can see, things don't always go as planned with my projects, but that's okay. Nothing has to be perfect! Keep calm and carry on!)

I'm almost finished with my Christmas decorating, and hope to share it all with you soon.

Hugs,


11 comments

  1. These are beautiful!
    You put together such a nice tutorial very easy to follow.
    Great job and Thank you!
    P.S. I'm a You Tube junkie too, LOL.

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    1. Thanks, Connie. I'm glad you can understand what I was doing. :) I appreciate the Youtubers who spend so much time creating content that inspires and helps me. Have a great weekend!

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  2. These starry snow flakes look fun and cheerful project to get into. I may just have to put the lunch bags on my grocery list this week. I used to love doing silly paper Christmas decorations as a youth. Mother always put them up no matter the outcome.

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    1. Lynn, my favorite craft projects are those that take very little time to execute, as well as being inexpensive to make. This snowflake craft fit the bill. xx

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  3. Hi Nancy,
    These are really beautiful and you gave us a good tutorial. I love the white chalk paint star that is so pretty. They look really nice. Happy Friday.

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  4. These are darling! I'm a YouTube Junkie too and have never seen these! I follow MANY DIY channels but haven't seen this one. I'll definitely go take a look, although your tutorial is very easy to follow! I can seeing adding some spray glitter, either clear or gold or silver, or using white bags, etc. So many possibilities! I do love the brown also. I could sit and watch YouTube for hours if I let myself.. and many times, I see something I want to make RIGHT NOW and I usually do go make it. I probably have over 1000 videos saved of things I want to make! Oh well.. it's fun, free and harmless, and very relaxing. Thank you for this great idea! xoxo Marilyn

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    1. Hi Marilyn. I have seen another tutorial where white bags were used, and I liked those, too. Adding glitter would make the snowflakes more glamorous. So many ways to personalize these! Have a great weekend! xx

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  5. Nancy, these are beautiful, very elegant, but your tutorial makes them look very doable. Thanks for sharing, they're on the list!

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  6. Those turned out so pretty, Nancy! I love you tube, too!

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    1. Thanks, Deanna. I find Youtube to be a great source for ideas, as well as motivation! xx

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  7. Sorry I'm late Nancy, these are lovely :-)

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