This pin test was originally posted on CraftFail.
Saw these stinkin’ cute gift bags on Pinterest, thought, “Hey I could do that.” Famous last words.
Image from One Sheepish Girl
And even I knew these were probably not as easy and cute as they looked, so I opted for doing a test run with supplies I already had in my house: namely, a Williams-Sonoma bag and not-at-all-Christmas-colored yarn.
I did, however, buy a set of needles because I couldn’t come up with a way to make the tiny needle from my tiny sewing kit work for this project. So that was my big investment.
When I pinned this, many of you immediately suggested that I should embroider a penis on the bag. That’s not very Christmas-y, guys, come on… Unless we’re talking about baby Jesus’ little peen, and even I am not sacrilegious enough to embroider that on a bag. You’ll just have to survive with my sticking-things-in-holes jokes instead.
I penciled in my design…
And began poking holes. I ran into some trouble when I tried to poke through the bag handle reinforcers on the back of the bag. Hrm.
Now this is an old bag, it’s true, but it is a sturdy bag, so I was not expecting the amount of wrinkling that occurred. (Yes, we are still talking about a Williams-Sonoma bag, not a 30-something blogger, thankyou.)
I forged on ahead with my ugly yarn.
Now, guys. When you stick things in the holes of old bags, sturdy though those old bags may be, the holes tend to… uh… stretch a little. Maybe even tear. Eeek. And I was not being careful and, indeed, ripped a hole.
Here’s a picture. It’s a little gorey.
I still finished, though, because what’s a ripped hole when you have the end in sight, hm? (I just grossed myself out.)
In the end, I’d say if you actually took the time to get a good bag, draw a decent picture, punch holes the right distance apart, and were a little careful with your hole technique, this could be really good. In my case, I ended up with an old, ugly, wrinkled bag with ripped holes that says something vaguely resembling, “Merry Christmas,” if you’re drunk and slurring a little.
9 Comments
Who has time for this??! Sure it’s cute…but so is the glittery one I bought at target!
Fact. Every year, I raid Target’s dollar section and buy a fuck ton of gift bags and tissue paper. Cute, re-usable, and WAY easier than wrapping. Seriously, my wrapping looks the same now as it did when I was in elementary school. I’m sure as hell not going to spend precious time on this shit!
Just wrap the shit in the comics section of the newspaper & call it done. Though, I think a penis would have been appropriate for your Williams Sonoma bag, seeing as it was only a testes run.
This would be way cuter if you were five and using it for the gift you give to your grandma. For anyone else, it’s kind of like bragging. “See? I not only made you a gift, I even hand decorated the bag to put it in.” It’s pretty much the one-uppers answer to the store brought gift in the store bought wrapping paper; cute and all, but probably not as altruistic as one would hope a Christmas present would be.
That being said, it’s depressing to have someone not appreciate your handmade gift. That’s why I have decided “fuck handmade.” If someone doesn’t like the gift I bought, at least they can return it and get something they like. Only my parents get hand made stuff from me any more. I’m 32, and they still act like every piece of shit I give them is a masterpiece. Lol
Hahaha, most of my family members still appreciate my handmade gifts. (Or, at least they’re really good at faking it.) I only bought one gift this year and handmade the rest.
I feel this pinner is missing the whole point of a gift bag – laziness. It’s great when you are too lazy or too time pressed to track down the tape and scissors and cut wrapping paper properly. Open bag, stick in stuff, you’re done! Not, like, bedazzle the bag for an hour then stick stuff in it. No.
I think you should have done the old “celery stalk as a cabbage rose” stamp thing on it. Would have been waaaay easier, and you could have given it to one of us lucky pintestes.
i think it is to old way to thread 🙁