Treat Bag Made From an Envelope

Here are some treat bags I made for Easter, that are made from an envelope. I went to a Stampin' Up party and this was one of the crafts they did. I did end up buying the stamp roller that they used with this particular craft, but I thought I would do a "try"al for an Easter craft. So here are the instructions on how I made an envelope treat bag with a computer graphic printed on it. 

Seal a 5 3/4" x 8 3/4" size envelope. Cut the envelope to fit your printer to and 8 1/2" instead of 8 3/4".

Find the desired clip art and size it on your computer. I got my clip art from the Graphics Fairy blog. There are a ton of wonderful graphics on there and she even has some crafts ideas you can make with the graphics.

Test the graphic on a piece of scrap paper by drawing the shape of the envelope on the paper to see if you have it square and the right size. The graphic needs to be about 1 1/2" away from the sides of the envelope. If you use a graphic that is rectangle, you can use the straight lines for folding lines. If this is the case, the graphic needs to be 1 inch away from the sides. 

Print the graphic on to the envelope. *The envelope should fit the width of the paper slot. Do not put it to the side - I learned the hard way - paper jam.* 

Also make sure the opening jives with the way you want your graphic. I forgot about checking that but got lucky and didn't have any upside down graphics.

Fold the two sides over, about an inch. Open up the sides and fold up the bottom, the same measurement. Press the folds to make a good crease.

Stick your hand inside the bag.  Work at getting all the creases into a nice square fold. Each fold now needs to be turned the opposite way- the fold lines are there as a guide. Again crease the folds to make them crisp.

Get the bottom flat and work the envelope until you get two triangles sticking out each end- you will glue the triangles down soon. 

The sides have three creases - push the middle crease towards the center (or inside) of the bag. 

 Once the bag is all square and the creases are crisp, fold triangles to the bottom of bag and glue.

 Finish the bag to your liking.

Of course you don't have to print a graphic on the envelope - you can stamp it, add stickers, or how about some flowers? The possibilities are endless. 

Happy treat bag making!!