I warned y’all my Christmas crafting wasn’t finished😉. Squeezing all those holiday projects into 30 days is just too hard! So, we’re going to forget about dates and deadlines and have fun making a few seasonal miniatures for our dolls regardless of the month. Hey, if Hobby Lobby can celebrate Christmas in July, so can we!
What post-Christmas craft are we working on today?
Printable Gift Bags!
Gift bags are one of the easiest crafts you can make. They’re also very versatile. You can turn a snowman-printed bag into an everyday grocery tote by tracing the bag’s outline onto brown paper.
But not all printable gift bags are created equal. Some come together in a flash, while others are a little trickier.
So, who has the best bag? Let’s find out by comparing bags from three of my favorite dolly websites: Small Stuff’s Print Mini, Jennifer’s Free Dollhouse Printables, and My Froggy Stuff.
Small Stuff Print Mini:
If you like vintage-style printables, look no further than Small Stuff Print Mini. They have a ton of 1:6 and 1:12 scale printis! Most are ready-made (just print and glue), but they also offer blank templates. I love this because it means I can customize the printable to my taste. You know—personalize it.
Here are a few pieces I created using their templates:
To make these, I imported the templates into Photoshop then added my own backgrounds, text, and clipart.
But, for today, we’re keeping things simple and just printing the template onto patterned cardstock.
Making The Gift Bags:
Of course, you can always glue the template to your paper; however, printing it directly on the back will give the bag crisper edges. You also won’t have to worry about the layers peeling apart.
Again, I really like Small Stuff Print Mini’s bags. They are fun to customize and won’t drain your computer ink since you can print the blank template.
Want a small bag? Resize the template using Photoshop, an online photo editor (like Canva), or even Microsoft Paint.
Don’t like the handles at the top? Cut them off and use ribbon instead!
My only complaint about this bag is that the tab that folds under isn’t clearly marked. I ended up with a few wonky bags before realizing I’d missed a fold.
Still, this won’t stop me from using Small Stuff Print Mini’s gift bags (especially now that I know where to fold the tabs😉).
Jennifer’s Free Dollhouse Printables:
Jennifer’s Free Dollhouse Printables is another great source for printable doll-sized groceries, magazines, boxes, bags, and more.
Like Small Stuff Print Mini, most of the printables are vintagey. However, there are a few modern brands sprinkled in.
The gift bags come in three sizes: small, medium, and large.
Making The Gift Bags:
These bags are a cinch to make. It took me less than an hour to make the nine you see here.
I’m loving their pretty patterns. They look just like bags you’d find at Hallmark or Hobby Lobby!
The only thing to note is that these printables are 1:12 scale and may need enlarging for Barbie-sized dolls.
But, since gift bags come in all shapes and sizes, I don’t fret too much about the scale (especially if they’re just for decoration😉).
My Froggy Stuff:
Last but not least is a gift bag from the most popular crafter in the dolliverse: My Froggy Stuff!
This is their Christmas 2020 printable. It has a gift bag, advent calendar, and Christmas card.
In the YouTube video showing how to make these goodies, Toya uses regular computer paper. Unfortunately, I forgot to swap out papers and ended up printing mine on cardstock (whoops😳). Luckily, this won’t affect the bag, but I can’t use the card or envelope because the paper is too thick.
Making The Gift Bag:
This was by far the quickest bag. And, had I not used cardstock, it would’ve been even quicker since I could’ve skipped scoring the lines.
Although the bag is gorgeous, you only get one per printable. For me, this is a drawback because you have to reprint the entire page to get more bags, which requires a lot of ink due to all the red tones.
Now that we’ve made all these bags, it’s time to answer the big question:
Who has the best printable gift bag?
The answer really depends on the type of bag you’re looking for and how much time you want to spend making it.
My Froggy Stuff wins the award for having the easiest printable Christmas bag.
You can use regular computer paper, plus the bag is perfectly scaled for Barbies. No editing required!
Having said that, Small Stuff Print Mini remains my number one source for printables.
Creating one-of-a-kind miniatures using my own paper or Photoshop is super rewarding. Yes, I may have to tinker with the templates before getting them just right, but the end result is worth the effort.
Jennifer’s Free Dollhouse Printables offers the best of both worlds.
This site has plenty of print-ready gift bags for any dolly occasion! You’ll also find tips for making the bags more durable and embellishing them.
Now it’s your turn!
Do you make miniature gift bags for your dolls? If so, do you like ready-made bags, or would you rather tailor them to your liking?
Friendly links to the sites featured in this post:
If you clipped just the image of MyFroggyStuff’s gift bag, and then put multiples on the same page using layering, you would be able to fit four bags on one piece of paper, it looks like.
I haven’t done a lot of printables, although that’s partially because we haven’t had a color printer all that long.
I “inherited” my daughter’s set of Tinkerbell and friends dolls when she outgrew them. There was no way I wanted to give them away! They’d come in a pack of six or seven fairies that I found on sale before Christmas one year at Target.
Yes, cropping and pasting the image onto a new page is the best way to get several of the same printable. I do this a lot to save paper. You just need a decent photo editor.
Awww, those fairy packs were my favorites🥰! I loved that they often contained special characters, like Chloe and Marina (Pixie Hollow Games), and Spike (Secret Of The Wings).
Hello again! It’s been a while since I’ve stopped by your blog, but I’ve been busy with real life stuff.
Fun fact, but the very first craft I did on my blog were some bags and boxes. Like you, I got a printable from a website and used it as a template to create my design with Illustrator. I don’t love antique looking printables, so if those were the only option I would rather make my own designs.
I’ve been considering making my own printables for a while, but I don’t have a color printer right now, so I depend on someone else to print them for me. I would love to get one at some point in the future, but right now is way down on my priorty list.
Hope you’re doing well.
Thanks for stopping by!
I understand your pain! Real life has gotten in the way of my “fun time” too. It’s so unfair😂.
I’m glad you liked the craft. Believe it or not, this was supposed to be last year’s Christmas craft (yes, I’m that far behind!). I can go either way when it comes to antique printis but tend to be more like you and design my own printables. It takes time but it’s a lot of fun!
Have you considered creating a few printables and sharing them with your followers to test for you? This idea might not work but, if it did, it would give you a way to design without having to print them yourself.
I have to laugh, I saw one of your dolls at the thrift store lately and I immediately said “Tink”!!! Cute bags:@)
Thank you!
I know what you mean–I remember being shocked when I found a few of these Jakks fairies at HEB about a year ago (HEB is a grocery store chain here in TX). There were only three or four left, so I bought them since they’re so hard to find. Except for Iridessa, I have all the characters.