Do you have a bunch of store shopping bags, the kind that you get when you buy merchandise from a clothing or gift store? Since I have young adult daughters in my house, these bags find their way into our possession with moderate frequency. Some of them are quite nice as they are, and we reuse those bags for gifts within our family. Others are okay -- good bags, but with a prominent logo on each side. They're not as nice for gifting, especially outside of our immediate family.
With a couple of cans of spray-paint (I used matte silver and matte gold), these store bags can be transformed into nice gift bags.
Here's an H & M store bag. There's not especially nice about the bag, except that it's in good conditions and has a nice gift bag-style handle (instead of just a plain paper sack).
I taped off the handle with painters tape because I wasn't sure how easy it would be to spray-paint or how well the spray-paint would adhere. For instance, I was concerned the spray-paint might rub off when being handled. So, I taped it with painters tape.
Next, I stuffed the bag with plastic bags and wraps from packages, such as the plastic wrap from a large package of bathroom tissue. With the top plastic bag, I fixed the plastic so that it was level with the top of the bag. The plastic bags and wrap protect the interior of the bag from overspray as well as hole the bag open completely, even on the sides.
After taping and stuffing the store bag, I gave it 3 light coats of one color (silver) of spray-paint. You can see that when the paint is still wet, the logo beneath shows through.
When the paint dries, the logo basically vanishes.
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| (My indoor lighting is bad for photography, but IRL this bag is silver striped with gold.) |
After the third coat of paint had dried, I used a second color of spray-paint (gold) to add some visual texture to the bag in the form of diagonal stripes. The purpose for this second color is to camouflage any of the logo that might show through.
I am really pleased with how easy this was as well as how nice my new "gift bag" looks. This bag will soon be used, as I needed a gift bag for a birthday gift this week. I'll be rounding up the rest of my store bags later this week to make holiday gift bags.
