Tutorial for Inexpensive DIY Jewelry Packaging 

I hit on an idea for making my own cheap " shopping " bags for packaging jewelry for my customers purchases.  The first cloth bag helps protect the purchased item(s) and the second bag makes an impression on customers so that they will remember you and where they purchased that awesome jewelry. 

I am not saying this is an original idea, just that I have not seen it anywhere before. 

For the first bag, I simply cut out a circle from left over fabric from other projects. 

Of course, if you are able to purchase ready made packaging or jewelry boxes, then by all means use them.  This is a tute for those who are like me "cash flow challenged".  

If you don't sew, you can go to a discount store and buy fabric from the $1 per yard table. 

Cut a circle that will be large enough to hold the purchased items.  You will need 2 or 3 different sizes from a size for necklaces to one for earrings.

Use a dinner plate, bucket lid, pan lid, or what have you to get a nice circle.

Make some slits 1/2" to 2" in from the cut edge, or whatever looks good to you, in that fabric and thread some cord, ribbon, twine, etc. through the slits. 

I use tape to hold the ends of the cord so it won't slip back through.  Now you have a nifty stash of bags that will lay flat for easy storage and transport.

All images are clickable for a larger view

I had read a tute for making bags from envelopes and was on a shopping spree for ink pads to use with my rubber stamps I already had on hand for my polymer clay projects.  I was going to embellish the envelopes with stamps.  I had priced the envelopes and was heading back to the craft section when I walked past the aisle where the plastic wrap and such were located.  OMG!  I just happened to look right at some lunch bags on the shelf, right there at the end of the shelf!  Now that was a coincidence wasn't it?  You could get 100 brown ones or 50 white ones for about the same loooow price. 

So home I went with my stamp pads, my new shopping bags and a pair of stamps that just happened to be hanging right beside the ink pads.  They screamed "BUY ME!!"  One says Thank You in a nice script and the other one, also in script, says "Handmade by".  I couldn't believe it.  It was like these things jumped right out at me, or that something was drawing me to them.  You see, I had stressed over how I could get/make some low cost packaging.  These items fit the bill perfectly.

Here is an image of the bags, You can see that I placed a label on one side with my business name and contact information.  Then my name was hand signed under the "Handmade By" stamp.  I don't have a large selection of stamps but I managed to get a pretty good design with what I have. 

My business name is covered because I am changing my business name to a more appropriate one for a jewelry designer/creator.  Soooo, I'm not telling yet.

On my first try I made a funny mistake.  I stamped the Thank You upside down so I covered it with a blank label and did it right.  LOL

If you want, you can cut some off the top of the bag. I did because I thought it was too tall for the intended purpose. 

I used a pair of  craft scissors that make a pretty wavy pattern on the upper edge of the bag. 

Stamp it and you are finished. 

Of course you could get fancier and embellish the bag even more with bits of fabric or pretty paper or ribbon. 

When you make a sale, tie it into the cloth bag then place the cloth bag into the paper bag and close the paper bag by tying it closed with ribbon or what not, or maybe just stapling it.  I plan to try both methods to see which one I like better.  That's why there are holes punched in one of the bags in the illustration image. 

Don't forget to place your business card in the bag with the purchase.  You should think about creating a flyer, if you don't already have one, with images of your work for enclosure in the bag as well. 

questions or comments are most welcome

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