Recycled Magazine Gift Bag

Have lots of magazines (or newspapers) laying around.. and not sure what to do with them? Make a weaved gift bag! This was a fairly easy project that cost me zero dollars, but a few hours in time. 

Materials needed:
-10-15 Magazine pages 
-Tape/glue/stapler 
-Cutting board/rotary knife/scissors
-Ribbon for handles
-Modge Podge (optional)

Step 1: Cutting!

Rip out pages from your magazine (I used about 15 pages) Sticking to a colour theme is a cool idea but not necessary. Cut the pages into strips, the width depends on how big you want the weave to be. I cut mine to 1.5" and the weave was fairly small. I suggest 2-2.5" if you don't want to spend twice as much time on this! (aka laziness! =] )

Cutting the strips is MUCH easier with a cutting board or a rotary knife. But if you're skilled with a regular knife, that will work too.

Step 2: Folding

Fold the strips into thirds. This gives the strips strength, which will make for a stronger bag. 

At this point, decide how big your bag will be. Your weaved bag can only be as big as the length of the paper strips. Because my bag needed to be tall, I taped two strips together to add twice the length. 

Step 3: Start Weaving!

Lay enough strips down side-by-side until you reach the desired size of the base. Placing weights on each end of these strips reduces moving. Starting in the middle, start weaving the paper strips. Glue, tape or staple each strip in place to reduce slippage and makes it more sturdy.

FIY: I made two bags -- the first one I used glue, and this one I used tape. Both worked just as well as the other, however; the glue does soften the paper a bit. Nothing a bit of drying time won't fix

Step 4: It's Taking Shape =)

When the base is the size you want, just bend the stripes upwards and start weaving horizontally. Secure the ends with glue/tape/staples after each row is complete.

Placing an item in the center and securing the strips upwards helps to keep everything from flopping around and potentially messing up your weave!

Step 5: Finishing Touches

Once you reached the desired height, snip the extra ends off. To give the edges a clean look, I folded a paper strip in half and folded it over the "rim" of the bag and used Modge Podge to glue it on. Use ribbon or yarn to add handles

** If you are an overachiever like me, you can coat the bag in a few coats of Modge Podge or glue to give it added sturdiness