Guest Post for Happy Momentzz!

Hello everyone!
I was so excited to be invited as a Guest Blogger for Sharada's Happy Momentzz's 5th birthday party!

 I'll be sharing with you a simple DIY project using a very common household item- which is a cereal box which I have upycycled into a gift bag. I know this idea is not very new, and has been done many times, but my process is a little different and hopefully you will enjoy this tutorial and give it a try :)

So, let's start with our project :

You will need :-
1. An empty cereal box. ( I have used one from Kellogg's Chocos- Small size).
2. White Chart Paper.
3. 12 X 12'' Pattern Papers of your choice.
4. Eyelets and Cord to make the handles of your gift bag.
5. Some die-cuts, paper flowers, embellishments to decorate. (This is totally optional).

Steps (1-4)

• After selecting a cereal box of your choice, very delicately and patiently open the box completely on the bottom and from the side seams. Try to do this without tearing the paper. 
• Once the box has been opened completely, using a craft knife and a ruler, cut apart the top part of the box which consists of the flaps.

• Now, trace the rest of the box (except the bottom part as shown in the picture) on to a chart paper using a pencil and a ruler and cut it out. 
• Now, score this paper according to the folds of the box, this will make it easier to bend the paper on the sides when you construct your bag! ( Refer to my picture below for an idea )

Steps (5-6)

• Once you have cut and scored your chart paper glue it on the cereal box using any liquid adhesive. I have used fevicol.
• Now fold the box into shape and glue the sides and for the base of the box measure and cut a small piece of chart paper in the approximate size of the box base and glue it separately.

Your box should look something similar to the one in the below picture.

Steps (7-8)

• Once the box/bag base is ready you need to distress the edges of your box using Distress Ink of your choice. I have used Cracked Pistachio Distress Ink as it is very similar in color to the pattern paper that I have used to make my bag.
• Once the edges are distressed it's time to add pattern paper. Cut your pattern paper 1/4 inch smaller than the size of the box size that you are covering.

Steps (9-10) 

•  Once the pattern paper is glued, it's time to embellish your bag with die-cuts of your choice and also add in your eyelets and handle of your bag before adding on all your embellishments.

Here's how now final bag looks like after I added the flowers and some foliage to it.

I hope you liked my project and will give it a try. These DIY bags are just perfect for gifting to any of your family or friends while at the same time helping to recycle a common household item which could otherwise be trashed :)