Anthropologie Shopping Bag

I’m joining our host Kate for another monthly crafting challenge. Kate, who blogs at Tall Tales From Chiconia, encourages bloggers to dust off their scraps and turn them into something new.

My inspiration this month is a paper shopping bag. Pretty scrappy, eh? I fell in love with the artwork, which is different on all four sides of the bag.

Reverse side and bottom of Anthropologie shopping bag

The bag is originally from a trendy store called Anthropologie. It arrived filled with donations where I volunteer. I couldn’t bring myself to recycle it, so I brought it home for a crafting project.

The paper is a nice weight, with a different design on the front and back and two additional designs along the sides. I fell in love with the black and green cat pattern, but all four sides are interesting.

I made a notecard using my last scrap of black paper, a border die, and the cat side of the shopping bag. I would have done a few things differently, but part of the challenge of using scraps is that you have a limited supply of materials.

I used another section of the cat paper to make a gift tag for my son’s birthday. He loves Chipotle, so I bought him a gift card and wrapped it with a scrap of green paper. I added a fussy cut paper cat. We all love cats around here.

On the subject of cats, after completing the tag, I took a brief recess so that Tessa could finish her nap on the bag. She rules the roost around here. We adore her.

After Tessa’s catnap, my crafting resumed.

I had a lot of leftover cat paper, so I papered an ugly postcard and stamped “delight in life” in black ink for some interest.

I recovered my ever-changing bookmark tin for the Little Free Library and used some of the smaller patterned sections of the bag to make two-sided bookmarks.

Bookmarks made from three of the four sides of the bag

The pattern on the opposing side of the bag didn’t interest me as much, so I used it to line the drawer in my laundry room. It’s been 17 years since I last relined it, so it was time for a refresh.

The sides of the bag are narrower, so I had less paper for crafting. I love the snails, so I fashioned a few bookmarks, then stamped them with black ink. I made more bookmarks using the purple pattern on the opposing side.

The final make from the shopping bag is another card. I used a daisy die to cut the purple paper into the lacy flower pattern you see below. The purple lost some of its vibrancy, so I wanted to punch up the color. I used daubers and assorted ink and placed color on a scrap of paper below the punched surface.