DIY Christmas Reusable Fabric Gift Bag with Cricut!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut.  The opinions and text are all mine.

CHRISTMAS IS COMING!!!  I know my American friends have yet to celebrate Thanksgiving but, here in Canada, it’s a distant memory (we celebrate in October) so we’ve had all this time to focus on all things Christmas!  (Can you tell I’m excited?!)  And for those who know me, not only do I enjoy the gift-giving part of Christmas but I adore the packaging process and making a gift look all pretty.  I live for it!!  I haven’t given up on wrapping paper entirely BUT I did want to explore a more eco-concious route this year.  Using my new toys (Cricut Explore Air 2 and EasyPress 2 machines), I made a very easy (and pretty!) fabric reusable Christmas gift bag!

DIY Reusable Christmas Gift Bag

Making a reusable fabric gift bag is very straightforward.  In fact it’s downright easy!  Personalizing it is too!  The first thing you need is some fabric and the gift you want to give so that you can determine the gift bag size you need.  (I love Diptyque candles…)

Cut and Sew!

I did a rough measurement to see how big my bag how to be for the candle to comfortably fit.  And I cheated a bit!  To minimize my sewing time, I folded the fabric in half so that the bottom didn’t need to be sewed – just the sides.  I did neaten up the top part of the bag, mostly to show off the contrast stitching.

Design and Cut Your Image

I created a really simple ornament silhouette with the words “Something for you!” to be transferred onto the fabric.  I uploaded it into Cricut’s design space to size it correctly before using my Cricut Explore Air 2 machine to cut it.  (Don’t forget that with iron-on transfers, mirror the image and put the shiny side of the transfer paper DOWN before cutting!)

Transfer your Image onto your Fabric

Remove the excess material from your design once your image has been cut.  I use Cricut’s weeding tools which makes it so easy to remove the tiniest bits.

I then fired up my EasyPress 2 and warmed the machine up to the “Cotton” setting at 150 C.  (I’m Canadian – we use Celsius!). I also set the timer for how long I actually needed to press the iron-on transfer to my fabric – in this case 30 seconds.

I took my EasyPress mat (you could use a towel as well) on a hard surface and placed my fabric on top.  Then I warmed up the fabric first and applied my iron-on transfer (this time, shiny side up!).  I applied pressure with my EasyPress 2  for 30 seconds at a time on both sides of the fabric.

Now all you have to do is peel back the plastic film from your iron-on transfer and celebrate!  (I always get excited seeing the finished product!)

Finishing Touches

I placed my candle inside my bag, added my beloved ribbon and voila, a gift in a reusable bag was born!

I’m definitely going to be repeating this process for the advent calendars I plan on making this year. This process really took minutes to make and (I think) the results look amazing!!!  (Time to start sewing!)