Waltzingmouse November Soap ~ Day 1 ~ Tutorial: Kraft and Felt bag

Woo-Hoo!! It's time for the Waltzingmouse November SOAP (Stamp of Approval Parade) parade!! This month, we're focusing on anything Christmas. Whether it be a card or project. Today, I have two sweet little handmade bags to share with you, using a couple of the new Waltzingmouse sets Seasonal Remedies and Candy Jar Christmas. The first bag is made out of kraft paper, and the second made out of felt.

I'm more of a paper-crafter than a cook or baker, but these white chocolate covered pretzel rods are super easy. Even for the clutziest of people. I'll include the easy recipe at the bottom of this post.


I wanted to make my bag a bit vintage looking, so I stamped the images with Onyx Black Versafine. The little candies were masked, and the edges were ink distressed with Walnut Stain (Ranger Distress Ink)

The bag is super easy and quick to put together. I started off with 2 pieces of 3 1/2" x 5 1/2" kraft paper that I cut from a roll that I use to wrap Christmas gifts with. If you don't have kraft paper, you can use lunch sacks. Kraft cardstock is too thick.

I then stamped the design I wanted toward the bottom of one of the pieces, and punched one end, of both pieces, with a decorative punch. (the opposite, and back side of the stamped image - because you're going to fold it over.) I start my punch in the middle, and work out. That way the punched border is balanced. After punching, measure 4" in from the un-punched edge and score with the image facing up. I inked the fold so you can see it better.

This is what it's going to look like when folded.

Next, you're going to want to sew the two pieces together. Lift up the flaps and sew from one side of the opening around the bottom and to the other side (not including the flaps. Back-stitch along the top edges so they are secure when adding the Chocolate dipped pretzels) Then sew the edges of the flaps individually if you want. If you sew them with the rest, they don't lay as nice.

Here you can see the sewn edges.

Then when you fold the flaps, they're not so flat.

Lastly, I added some twine to the punched border and a sweet little vintage wood spool button by Prima.

For this set, I included pretzels all decorated with white chocolate and candy pearls.

You can also use Felt to make the bag. I would cover the pretzels with cellophane, though, because you don't want them against the felt. I also sewed the sides all the way to the top because felt is easy to fold over.

Lastly, I added some twine with a couple of jingle bells on the ends, and a diecut border that I made with the Classic Petal Edgeabilities die by Spellbinders.

This little bag would be great as a place card with the name of a guest added on a little tag. It would also be sweet to give as a gift to your classmates, a teacher, or whatever that creative mind of yours can come up with.

That's it for today's project. Be sure to check out what the other girls have to share, if you haven't already.

Anya Schrier
Becca Feeken
Julia Aston
Jennifer Holmes
Kelly Schirmer
Laurie Schmidlin
Lynn Mercurio
Mona Pendleton
Sandie Dunne
Tosha Leyendekker
Claire Brennan (Owner)

White Chocolate Pretzel Rod recipe:

1 cup White Chocolate Chips (or semi-sweet)
1-2 tsp Shortening

Heat in mug or microwave safe bowl for 1 min. and 30 seconds at 50% power, stir, and continue heating in 15 sec. intervals until completely melted. Dip pretzels in and let the chocolate drip off. You want a thin layer of the chocolate. While still wet, sprinkle whatever topping you'd like over the top. I laid mine over a mug so the frosted side hung over the edge while drying.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Sorry I've been absent for so long. I have two kids in college, both in different states 1000 miles and 2000 miles away respectively. The past two weekends have been parents weekend, so we've been racking up the air miles!! YIKES. I'm finally home for awhile....*sigh*

Happy stamping my friends!!

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Stamps: Seasonal Remedies and Candy Jar Christmas (Waltzingmouse)
Paper: Kraft
Ink: Onyx Black (Versafine), Walnut Stain (Ranger Distress)
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Border Punch (Martha Stewart), Twine, Wood Spool Button (Prima), Pretzels, White Chocolate, Sprinkles