Tap to Read ➤

Eco Friendly Ideas for Goody Bags

Anuja Marathe Kanhere
Goody bags with return gifts go hand in hand with parties and celebrations. They not just make for a wonderful present, but can also be a treasured keepsake or souvenir for the receiver. Here are some unique eco-friendly ideas for making goody bags.
Adopting an eco-friendly lifestyle in all aspects of life is the need of the hour. Be it eco-friendly kitchen products, recycled products, environment friendly vehicles etc. One of the most indispensable item of any parties and ceremonies taking place in our day-to-day lives are gifts and goody bags.
If you decide to keep your goody bags eco-friendly too, you will not just get personal satisfaction but also heaps of appreciation from your friends. Here is how you can creatively make eco-friendly goodly bags in comforts of your home.

Eco friendly Goody Bag Ideas
Here are some of my favorite eco-friendly goody bag ideas. Use them to make some interesting goody bags for birthday gifts, return gifts, Christmas gifts and personalized wedding gifts.

Jute Bags

Jute is commonly used for making eco-friendly gunny sacks. You can reuse some old gunny sacks by cutting them into four equal parts or into two exact halves. Now take two reels of wool in contrasting shades and insert the loose ends into a single needle.
Stitch up three sides of the jute bags with colorful wool. The edge of the fourth side can be hemmed with a plain thread. Stitch on bag handles made from jute strips or else use some colorful cloth from used garments to make the bag handles.
You can decorate the jute bag surface with a dried flowers or use some fabric paints to make designs with a paint brush. Such jute bags make for an interesting giveaway goody bag.

Newspaper Bags

Take hold of some old colorful newspapers from your home. Use a pair of scissors to cut them up into appropriate sizes. Glue the loose ends together and stick up the base using a long rectangular strip of cardboard or card paper from old notebooks.
Let the bag dry well. Punch holes in the center of the open end and run a thin jute rope or used old satin ribbons through them to make for goody bag handles. Now use some water colors to paint the bags in single color or use 3 or 4 colors to paint vertical lines of equal proportions all over the bag.
Alternately, you may use some old colored papers available at home and cut them up in floral or geometric designs. Stick the pieces on bag's surface and there... your goody bag is ready!

Old Paper Bags

One easy way is to use the brown paper bags that you get in supermarkets. All you need to do is fold up the edge of the open end of paper bag and glue it to form a thicker edge.
Punch holes on either sides and run some used satin ribbons through them and knot them towards the inside. The bag handles are now done. Use some dried flowers or colored paper for making artistic designs on the bag. One way of making personalized goody bag is to cut bold printed alphabets and letters from newspapers to form words and messages.
Stick these letters and use some glitter and sparkle pens to make attractive design fillers. This technique of newspaper cutting can be used for single gift purpose only. It would be tedious to make newspaper letter cuttings for hundreds of return gift goody bags for weddings!

Cardboard Bags

There might be numerous old cardboard boxes in your attic. They might seem useless unless you try out making goody bags out of them. Use a sharp paper-cutter knife to cut them into big squares.
If the cardboard box has any design or brand name on the outside then fold the cardboard in such a way that the plain side come on the external side of the cardboard bag. Fold them into half and cut 3 cm of cardboard on either side along the ends of the folds.
Make two additional vertical folds on both sides and staple together the edges with a cardboard stapler.
You may now punch holes on the top open ends and run jute ropes through them and knot them towards the inside. You may creatively decorate the cardboard bag using colorful crayons or poster colors. And before you know it, your goody bag is ready!.

Cotton Loot Bags

You can easily buy some 'Do it yourself' white cotton loot bags in supermarkets. These bags either have cloth handles or drawstrings. All you need to do is paint them with fabric colors.
Alternately, you can dye them in fabric colors to make them colorful. When making goody bags for your 5 years old upcoming birthday bash, take help of your kid to paint and decorate the bags with vegetable imprints.
You may just ask your kid to make colorful peacocks by dipping his palms in varied colors and printing the palm image on the loot bags. Painting ideas for decorating cotton loot bags can be unique for each bag.
One huge advantage of eco-friendly goody bags is that they do not cut a huge hole in your wallets. These ideas not only give you a scope to try out your imagination but they also make you realize your creative potential.