My friend deserves this and more

Hello! I'm up on the DCWV Blog today showing this cute gift bag I made for a friend who definitely deserves the time and extra effort. We've been friends for 13 years! gasp!

I made this with one sheet from the DCWV Brights 11x17 stack.

You can find these super size stacks at Joann stores.

 I love them because they're double sided and the patterns and solids coordinate so beautifully.

Here's how I creased the paper: 

I used my scoring tool and ruler to make the creases. I folded along the lines and I folded the top and bottom one inch down so the solid color would show against the pattern. 

Next, I cut the middle tabs as shown, then turned it over:

To decorate the front more, I placed a strip of DCWV gold  glitter paper under the fold, About half an inch of gold is showing. I made sure to crease the gold paper first where it will need to fold.

 Now you can fold your bag up. Make sure the middle tabs are inside. On the sides, overlap the flaps, so that one side is tucked inside the fold. 

I used scor-tape to hold my bag together because I know it won't let me down!

Here it is folded up. I punched holes for the handles with a regular 1/4" hole puncher and added May Arts crochet lace trim for the handles.

It was so easy to make a special bag for a special person. I used to shy away from doing this because I had to glue 2 or more sheets of 12x12 paper together and that took longer, made it more difficult to work over the join and affected the stability of the bag. 

The DCWV large format stacks definitely make gift giving easier :)