One of my favorite craft projects is coming up with favor and gift packaging. (I especially love the holidays just because I can make and wrap boxes. It’s sick, I know.)

Finding nice favor packaging that’s not generic and that doesn’t cost more than the gift itself can be the Holy Grail of wedding favors, can’t it?

Well, dear readers, I have an easy-yet-beautiful favor packaging that won’t break the bank.

We’re going to make favor bags out of … ribbon! All you need is some yummy ribbon, scissors, and a glue gun.

For this example, I’m using chopsticks as the favor and a beautiful 1.5″ double-faced satin ribbon as the bag. (Candy cane sticks work great, too, for you last-minute holiday craft makers.)

Supplies Needed

• 1.5″ satin ribbon
• Scissors
• Glue gun
• 1/8″ ribbon for the tie

Directions

1. Plug in your glue gun and let it start heating.
2. Measure the length of the item you’ll be putting in the bag and add an inch*. My chopsticks are 11″. I measured out 12″.
3. Cut the ribbon to length.
4. Fold the ribbon in half.
5. With the glue gun, draw a thin line of glue down the inside of one of the inner edges of the ribbon. Line up the top and bottom edges of the ribbon. Seal the side shut. (Be careful! The glue will be hot enough to give you a nasty burn.)
6. Now do the same for the other side. That’s it. You’ve created a bag.
7. To make it all pretty,  trim the top of the finished bag to clean up any frayed edges. Tie the 1/8″ ribbon around the outside.

You can use nearly any width of ribbon that’ll accommodate the width of your favor. I’ve seen gorgeous ribbons up to 4″ wide.  For the alternate example below, I used a 2″ width and that’s great for jelly beans or other candies.

Tips & Hints:

• Hot glue is HOT and can give you serious burns. Keep a bowl of ice water nearby while you’re working.
• Also, keep a damp paper towel on your work surface to protect your work surface. Whenever you put the glue gun down, set the tip over the paper towel to catch any drippings.
• The heavier the ribbon, the better.
• Sheer ribbons don’t work well for this project because the glue tends to show through. That’s not very pretty.
• Use only fabric ribbon: silk, satin, poly-blends, cotton. Plastic-y ribbons will melt under the heat of the hot glue.

When I can share treat packaging that requires little cutting and easy assembly, I’m all over it. To the blog I go! And, well, here I am with this easy treat basket. Ok, it’s not a box but it’s a great way to present Jelly Bellys, chocolates or other small munchies. It takes about 3 minutes to cut and assemble and you can get 4 baskets per 1 sheet of 12″ x 12″ scrapbook paper.

Supplies Need

• Cardstock or heavy scrapbook paper, cut to 6″ x 6″
• Scoring tool (bone folder or paper cutter with a scoring blade)
• Hole punch
• Ribbon

Directions

1. Score each piece of 6″x6″ piece of paper at 2″ and at 4″ in both directions (horizontally and vertically). You’ll end up with score marks in a tic-tac-toe pattern.
2. Now score each of the 4 corner pieces, diagonally, from tip towards the middle.
3. Punch holes in each of the corners, about 1/8″ or so from the tips.
4. Fold all of the scores towards the middle. The corner pieces should come in towards the center.
5. Thread some ribbon through the holes. Place your goodies inside. Tie the ribbon closed.

(step 1):

(step 2):