Unique Paper Bag Crafts Projects

These paper bag crafts are great crafts to do with a group of people such as at a party or in a classroom. In school for homework each student was asked to design a paper shopping bag. Once the bags are done, we each shared our bag design and then compared what we came up with.

Getting Started

To get all the paper bag crafts started have each person bring in a brown paper shopping bag. These bags can be found at many local super-markets. Before sending the bags home to be decorated, you may want to cover the front of the bag with a solid piece of colored paper to cover any design that may be on it. If you want to do this craft at party, you may want to gather the correct number of bags and cover them with a variety of colors beforehand to save time.

How To Decorate The Bag

Feel free to make up your own rules about how the bag should be decorated. You may want to have a theme that everyone must use. Otherwise you may want each person to chose a company to design their bag for. Encourage each person to be as creative as possible. Before we started our bag, we were shown examples of bags form different companies. One bag had a person jump-roping and the top of the jump rope became the handle. Another had a child whose hand was reaching up over the handle so it looked like you were holding the child's hand. We eventually chose to design a bag for converse. Our bag had a pair of converse sneakers. We made the sneakers out of paper and punched holes where the laces go. Then we laced up the sneakers and glued them on. We tied the ends of the laces together on top to make a handle. We were also given the choice to make a random design on the bag.

If you are planning to do this bag in class or at a party you should have available supplies for each person to use such as colored paper, crayons/markers, glue, and scissors. To make the project more challenging, you can pick an unusual material that each person has to use such as a spoon or a bright orange ribbon. Whatever you chose to do, remember to get creative.

Picture of Finished Paper Bag Craft

Turning It Into A Contest

You may wish to turn to the bag design craft into the contest. As always, remember to stress that each person's bag came out great and is very special before choosing a winner. We suggest choosing a few different categories to pick winners for if you have a large group. For example, awards can be given for most creative, most relevant to the theme (if you chose to have a theme), most unique use of the materials, most likely to be found in real life, and most colorful.

Remember to have fun!