Do-It-Yourself Paper Bag Scrapbook

If you're looking for totally unique and creative ways of exhibiting treasured memories, the best way to do so is to make a creative scrapbook. Even as a newbie, you can easily follow awesome scrapbook ideas for beginners. A great way to go is creating a paper bag scrapbook, which is very easy to put together.

Do-It-Yourself Paper Bag Scrapbook
[ image: pexels by lisa fotios ]

What is a Paper Bag Scrapbook?

As the name suggests, this makes use of paper bags for the scrapbook pages. It is a brilliant idea for DIY scrapbooking, as this can be made into a journal, baby book, even a travel scrapbook.

As it can be accomplished effortlessly, even your little children will love these scrapbook ideas for beginners.

What You Need For Your Super Unique Scrapbook Ideas

For every mini scrapbook you make, you need to prepare the following:

● 3 pieces of paper lunch bags (These mostly come in white and brown, but you're free to find other colors as well!)

● 6 pieces of coordinating scrapbook paper (For each book, you will need half of six 12-by-12-inch sheets. Another option is to use 6 pieces of 8.5-by-11-inch patterned paper.)

● Half of a 12-by-12-inch cardstock two-sided sheet (for tags)

● Rafia, string fibers, yarn, or ribbons (About 18 inches long to hold the book together. An additional three 5-inch strips are also needed for the tags or cards.)

● Decors and embellishments like heart stickers, flowers, buttons, and alphabets

● Adhesive materials such as glue sticks or glue dots

● Cutting materials like scissors, cutters, and punchers

● 12-18 pieces of your photos, ideally wallet-sized (though you can always trim a bigger photo!)

● Optional: paint or ink

Awesome Scrapbook Ideas for Beginners: How to Make a DIY Paper Bag Scrapbook

Here's the tutorial on how you can get started with such beautiful scrapbooking ideas:

1. Use your cutter or scissors to create two pieces of 4-3/4 squares from the six patterned papers. This should give you 12 pieces. Make sure to save the paper scraps.

2. Cut three rectangles measuring 4-by-4-3/4 inches from the cardstock. Create a tag by removing the corners from one of the longer sides. Use the puncher to create a hole in the top middle. Tie the hole using a ribbon or string fiber. That way, you can easily remove the tag from the pocket.

3. Fold the three lunch bags in half. With the folded bottom inside, place the bags together from top to bottom. Thread 18 inches of the yarn or ribbon through the hole and tie it on the outside. You can also staple the bags together or sew them with a needle and thread if you like.

4. Optional: you can use paint or ink to add some color and fun to the tags, bags, and papers. It's recommended to do this early on as it will take a little bit of time to dry the paint or ink. 

5. Use your glue stick or other adhesive material to add the paper squares on every page. It's best to use contrasting colors every other page, or you can put the same shade side by side.

6. Place 5-inch ribbons or fibers on each tag. Situate them inside the openings of the paper bags.

7. Now that your best scrapbook is almost ready, you can use your glue to stick each photo on the page. Should you decide to give this mini-album as a gift, you can forego this procedure and proceed to the next step.

8. As a finishing touch, you can take any of your scrapbook page ideas into action. You can embellish the scrapbook layouts with photos, paper scraps, ticket stubs, washi tape, cute stickers, flowers, and other fun decorative materials.

If you want to go full DIY for the page layout, you can also follow these new scrapbook ideas for beginners:

● Make a strip and place one in front of the tag or on the sides of the pages.

● Arrange three small squares in a row. Place a flower, button, or any other embellishment on top of each.

● Get a flower with a button in the middle and place it on the right-hand corner of the scrapbook layout.

● Use a flower-shaped puncher to make a flower ornament.

● Create straight strips using papers of contrasting colors.

● Add a little sticker or letter on top of one strip.

● Glue three to four buttons on the page.

● Place a ribbon or rick-rack on each scrapbook page or tag.

● Make a photo album cover using torn pages.

Scrapbooking Ideas for Beginners to Try

Depending on the occasion, you can try these creative ideas:

● Birthday - add cards or dedications from people you love

● Baby Scrapbook - place photos, memories, and other souvenirs from the delivery

● Father's/Mother's Day - scribble down quotes

● Graduation - stick a photo of the graduation, as well as the student's awards or medals

● Travel Book - add travel photos/memories, tickets, etc.

DIY Scrapbook Ideas: How To Make It with a Group

Although this tutorial has taught you to do the scrapbooking procedure yourself, you can always accomplish this with the people you love.

Whether you're hosting a party or just want to kill time with your scrapbook ideas, there are many ways to make each idea come to life.

For one, you can prepare all the necessary materials that they will end up using, such as photos, washi tapes, ribbons, and the like. Arrange these items in a row and just let the participants get what they want.

If you're promoting your awesome scrapbooking ideas to kids and adults who are new to the biz, a good option is to prepare scrapbooking kits for them. These should include:

● 3 bags

● 12 pcs of 4-by-4 papers

● 3 squares of colored cardstock

● Yarn or ribbon

● Paper scraps

● Decorative materials such as photos, flowers, stickers, buttons, etc.

● Scrapbooking instructions

Apart from having these kits ready, you should get these other materials and prepare them:

● Glue sticks or glue dots

● Scissors, punchers, or cutters

● Paint or ink

These scrapbook ideas are the best way to document each photo, as well as your other life memories. Not only are they fun to do, but they're easy to complete as well!