I'm Dreaming of a GREEN Christmas. . .FREEBIE!


Before I started making shopping bags, I was making these little gems. Disgusted by the amount of waste in the form of wrapping paper at the holidays, I bought a bunch of holiday fabric on sale last year and started sewing. Those on my gift list will get a half dozen fabric gift bags wrapped in a fabric gift bag! I will distribute them early so they can be used this Christmas.

I would love it if all of you out there started making fabric gift bags too. The link for the pattern is below but you can make them in just about any size!

Pattern is here.

Leave a comment at THIS post and we will send out at least 15 holiday gift wrap bags to some lucky winners. If we get a lot of response, maybe I will find some time to whip up some more! Remember to leave your email address spelling out AT and DOT so you don't get spam!

The last day to post a comment to be considered for the FREEBIE will be midnight St. Nick's Day, Dec. 6.

Happy Holidays to all of you. Let's make them as GREEN as possible.
Green Bag Lady Teresa

130 comments:

Gabyta said...

Hello!
I will download the pattern of the bag to make these Christmas .i'm not good at sew but the effort will do.
I love it!
I am happy because I have chosen to receive a bag, bagette dad was communicating whit me, hope anxious.
I leave this comment, but I understand if you don't choose me again, there are many people who deserve a sending yours.
A hug from Argentina.
Gabyta

Anonymous said...

another great idea!, congratulations!, this is a comment anything else, because if God wants to quickly reach the mine =) Greetings!

SandyQuilts said...

I've been making gift bags for about 7yrs now. I also make them for all other holidays, birthdays and etc. I also sew my ribbon right onto the bag. I make them in all sizes. Hmmm I need to hunt up photos and post to my blog too. Thanks

Green Bag Lady Teresa said...

Sandy--

Send me a photo of your bags too, I would love to post it!

Green Bag Lady Teresa

Anonymous said...

Thank you for a chance to win these Christmas bags!

Deborah

queensdap AT centurytel DOT net

Anonymous said...

Happy Holidays Green Bag Lady! What a creative idea! I asked for sewing lessons so I can get started on projects like these. I hope to start a tradition within my family of using fabric gift bags by setting an example myself. I would really really appreciate a gift bag. Thank you for all that you do!! My email is tabibkhoATuscDOTedu

Carl@ said...

Excellent idea!
I am waiting for my bag
Thank you very much from Argentina
Sorry for my English, use a translator

Excelente idea!!!
Estoy esperando para recibir mi bolsa
Muchas gracias desde Argentina
Perdon por mi ingles, uso un traductor

Bobbie said...

I think this is a fabulous idea. I am not a crafty person to say the least. I remember many many years ago I tried to make a "jiffy" dress only 4 pieces on the pattern. Well I had the worlds largest dust rag when I finished. I would love these for presents for my grandchildren.
eyzofgreen at gmail dot com

Anonymous said...

This is amazing! I'm happy so many have found you and my Nebraska friend has been so inspired - love the cartoon handles she making. You're doing so, so, so much! THANK YOU! I sent you the pix from Texas (plastic bags in trees). We were sad to see one in our own tree when we were out today!! We'll get up there and take care of it soon!! Thanks!! trzonker"at"hotmail.com

Renee said...

I LOVE this idea. Every year my kids get pajamas on Christmas Eve and I decided that instead of wrapping them every year, I would make "pajama bags" that they would find under the tree. They each have their own fabric and they love seeing the bags come out with the decorations, knowing that on Christmas Eve they will be filled with new jammies. This year, with the economy so bad, they will get CLEAN jammies--no one really needs new jammies so everyone's jammies will be washed and folded and put in the bag ready to be opened on Christmas eve. We love this holiday tradition. (I LOVE YOUR BAGS!!!!)) So please sign me up for the freebies!! I hope I win. Thanks.

Couch to 5K said...

I am making blankets for people for Christmas and was wondering how I was going to wrap them this year. I wonder no more. Too bad I didn't see this _before_ I was at the fabric store, I could've killed 2 birds with one stone there. Keep these fantastic ideas coming!

Anonymous said...

What you're doing is fantastic and I hope I'm a lucky recipient of one of your holiday bags! Using reusable bags really does make others think about it and follow suit. I'd love to show off one of your great bags and hopefully inspire people to make the change.

My email is bbiffl AT yahoo DOT com

Thank you!

Anonymous said...

What a fabulous idea, I love the holiday gift bags! Such festive prints, but also another contagious way to spread the message, since you give them to people who won't necessarily see your cloth bag when shopping! (Is it so terrible that I would be a tiny bit sad to give such a beautiful thing away? :)) That's okay, what goes around comes around. Keep up the creativity! I love reading the updates. You and the Bagettes are doing wonderful work!
Emilyn
emilynjchee at gmail dot com

Pksnow said...

I am on my own personal cloud. I never thought in a million years I would be selected to receive a free bag, but I did. I have told any and everyone that will listen about the bag you gifted me and the wonder things you do. It was a pleasure communicating with Bagette Dad too. How exciting to have such a wonderful connection with your Dad. I told a girlfriend of mine about the patterns and I hope to convince her to help me learn how to make them (she sews all of the time). THEN, just when I think you couldn't impress me any further, you show me the Christmas gift bags. UNBELIEVABLE. I dare not hope I am selected to win one. That would be beyond fantastic. I am going to try to make them. I thank you for all you do for GREEN AWARENESS!

Pksnow said...

Oops..my email is pksnowden at gmail dot com

Bella & Poppa said...

This is great!!! I wondered about making gift bags.

angiekay62 at yahoo dot com

Anonymous said...

i love it, a bag for every reason and season!!!
putting myself in the running again!

campbell4158ATmacDOTcom

Sandra B. said...

Hi! Great idea. Thank you for helping reduce this waste of Christmas wrapping paper. Plus, your bags look so much nicer!
Good Bye from Canada!
Sandra

Teddybear_Canada AT hotmail DOT com

Anonymous said...

This is SO awesome! My husband and I do not make bags but we take old clothes and make catnip toys that we donate to our local animal shelter for them to sell for money to help feed/treat the animals there. I think its just great what you are doing. I got my bag from the CNN blog the other day and I just love it! I know you have in the past wanted pics of the bags in use. If you want a pic, just email me! nynekats at aol dot com. I also hope that I have a chance to win these holiday bags. I am making a concerted effort to wrap all of my gifts this year in either recycled items like pillow cases or reusable items like scarves. Your bags would fit nicely into that goal! Thanks for the chance! Angie

Anonymous said...

I'm taking my first sewing class this week, so I'm bringing along your pattern for the holiday gift bag. Can't wait!

Julie said...

that is such a great idea... thanks for sharing....
zachandjules(at)gmail(dot)com
what a great giveaway!

Rikke said...

That is such a great idea!

LisaDuvall said...

Those are so cute!!!

valerieann118 said...

Way to go! Please enter me into your drawing! valerieann118atmsndotcom

Anonymous said...

Those look awesome! I'm impressed.

Anonymous said...

THese are sooooo cute!
Count me in I would love it!
Rane and kids
~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~
iremembersleep@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

This is great!! Thank you! I'd love to win!
anthonlm01(at)aol(dot)com

Anonymous said...

would love to have some of those. great idea. merry christmas.

Deb said...

Thanks for the wonderful giveaway!!!

Anonymous said...

I never even thought of that!!! Sometimes I use cute pillow cases to wrap children's presents in...
wanderasiwonder@yahoo.com

Shaina said...

i use homemade material bags for christmas too! I love it.
kamyrensmiles@hotmailcom

Jingle said...

I love these! They are the perfect alternative to the wasteful wrapping paper dilemma!
jinglesells at gmail dot com

Brie said...

I already use cloth grocery bags (and they are sooo much better!) but I would love to start using these too! Super cute!
briefair1 at gmail dotcom

Anonymous said...

ohmygoodness!!!! those are a great idea! every year i collect up boxes and bows to reuse, but this is even better! awesome!!

Jennifer Wilson said...

We definitely need these - trying to green up my guys. Thanks for participating and please count me in!

B said...

love it.
I could really use these

simply (dot) b (dot) simply (dot) me (at) gmail (dot) com

Anonymous said...

I love the idea of reuseable bags rather than wrapping paper. The waste at Holidays just makes me want to scream.

llucas10atjunodotcom

two hippos said...

fun, what a great idea, I'll have to make some myself.

aSprinkling said...

Wow! That would be great! I really like this idea. I hope that I win some and can start using them this year. Then, maybe I can make some to add to the stash next year. And eventually, all the family can be passing around fabric Christmas wrapping bags! Yay!

Anonymous said...

What a great idea! Please enter me in the draw!
lindsaymillet at hotmail dot com

Anonymous said...

I would love to win a bag!
greenerjelloAThotmailDOTcom

Anonymous said...

What a great "green" idea!
Please enter me in your draw.
Sue Cahill (sbonetsue at yahoo dot com)

Anonymous said...

These are a great idea! I'm definitely going to use this pattern this year!

Anonymous said...

Great idea to save the paper waste and to help those of us who can't wrap gifts properly to save our lives. :)

Theresa said...

Hi Teresa, nice name! ha-ha! You can borrow my H if you feel the need :)
Love being green, and am glad I found your blog. Here's to the death of plastic bags!

kellyn2girls1boy said...

kellyclarasadie AT yahoo dot com
I have been looking for a new way to wrap this is great.

deliarose said...

I love the idea of Christmas bags. My mom for years has been using fabric to wrap gifts, which is a Japanese custom, but I like the bag idea much better. As my bro. says you can just shove the gift in it! LOL!

Betty said...

great idea. so tried of the wasted wrapping paper every year. thanks for the idea.

r e b e c k a said...

Very clever idea! Would be happy to win one! :)

Bobbie - Clumsy Crafter said...

very cute! I definately think I'm going to be making some of these bags to store christmas gifts this year. I had really never thought about this and I have just tossing the paper gift bags. Thanks for the idea!

silverhartgirl said...

What a great idea and so beautiful. Those would looks so nice under the tree, and the cat couldnt open them. lol

Shooting Stars Mag said...

Oh, these are so adorable. Definitely a fun idea!!!

please enter me,
lauren

lauren51990 AT aol DOT com

Amanda said...

So glad to get the free patterns, thanks for sharing! I'd love a bag :-)

evanspianostudio (at) hotmail (dot) com

Katy said...

Thanks for the patterns! I love giving people cloth bags--it's a major part of my Christmas presents this year.

Anonymous said...

I love the fabric bags. That is mostly what we use at this house.

Julia said...

So great!! I'd LOVE to wrap my gifts in fabric rather than paper!

Sally said...

these are very nice. what a great idea

turtlesrs at yahoo dot com

LauraJ said...

these are wonderful! i'd like to win if I can.

Charity said...

These are great!! :0)

Katrina said...

Love the bags

Lisa said...

Great giveaway, and thanks for the link to the pattern.

Jenny said...

This is SUCH a good idea! Much better than using the comics from the newspaper (that's what we try to use).

Unknown said...

I love your gift bags! I hope I win...I've been wanting to make some but due to financial problems I don't have money to buy Christmas prints to make them.

Unknown said...

I love this idea! I hate using all that wrapping paper. I recycle gift bags but they do not have a long life around kids and I never know if they will be used after me. :(

isabel f. said...

thanks for the give-away :DD
these are really gorgeous!
go see my give-away too :DD
ISABEL

Erica said...

I really like those a lot!

Allie said...

Cool givaway! Thanks for the chance to win!

Anonymous said...

What a great idea. Hoping I win!

Sandy in NJ
Pecsan114@optonline.net

The Giveaway Diva said...

plese enter me in!!

The Wittering Knitter said...

Such a fab idea - I love these holiday gift bags.

Rhiannon said...

What a GREAT idea! Brilliant!

CalvaryGirl said...

What a great idea!! I'd love to get one of your bags. my email is clwendy at yahoo dot com :o)

sfer said...

I already got the pattern safe and sound, ready to use!! Thanks!!!

And thanks as well for the giveaway. Count me in, if you're willing to ship all the way over to Barcelona, Spain!!

Contact:librosfera(at)gmail(dot)com

Karen said...

great pattern tute! Thanks for the chance to win!!

Katherine said...

CUTE! Enter me please!!

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful idea! I'd love to receive these bags! Thank you!

Moira-Lin said...

What a great idea! I am going to try to sew, but it won't be anywhere close to as cute as these.

Kali said...

I'd love to enter your contest. Thank you for your generosity!

Sincerely,
Kali

Meredith said...

Wow! I love the bags! I have graduated to using simply wrapped fabric to wrap gifts, but the nice bag would really make my family happy to not have wrapping paper.

Kimberly said...

Lovely bags, great way to recycle. Thanks for joining give-away day!

michelou said...

Fantastic idea and great giveaway. Would love to win!

Michelle
michelou AT gmail DOT com

Beautia said...

what a great way to wrap gifts! happy holidays!

beautia AT gmail DOT com

Julianne said...

I would love to win!! These are very cute!!

gregjulianneatjunodotcom

Karin said...

Great giveaway - and thanks for including the pattern link! I can see some great birthday bags for my kids, now :)

Anonymous said...

Love the bags! Thanks so much for the chance!

Mare said...

That's such a great green idea! I hate the amount of paper that ends up getting thrown away Christmas morning.

mare at mail2peace dot com

Sal said...

wow... great idea to make but I'd love a head start to my collection. :)

momid5 said...

oo yummy I would really love this!

Anonymous said...

Those are so cute!
angst_shmangst AT yahoo DOT com

lao80 said...

I book marked that pattern. Usually I just wing it.

RAZZIESPLACE said...

Cute bags!

Sarah DeSalvo said...

How fun! I'd love to win this!
junglewife (at) gmail (dot) com

Ali said...

These are absolutely beautiful and so generous of you! Thank you for the chance!

Jessica said...

I would love one of these they are sooo cute

Ellen said...

Love this idea!

zees5 said...

Perfect! I never use a box, always bags and your idea is even better so I hope I win! izazbz at yahoo

Jenne said...

What a terrific idea! I'm a gift-wrap addict though...how to stop?

Scrappinfor3 said...

GREAT idea. I have so much scrap fabric that I am going to make more of these:)

Anonymous said...

This would be absolutely lovely to win and I hope I do because I think would flip!

Thanks so much for the chance too!

e-mail: perfectpunkin@yahoo.com

katie said...

i love the idea of making gift bags, we used to use paper bags and funny papers when i was a kid.

Melody said...

AWW. That is so cool!

thanks for the giveaway!

Cheers,
melody
mel_88_88@hotmail.com

Anonymous said...

Count me in!

H.S.
tan.huishan@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

Those look so lovely! Really pretty.

dancerinthemaking(at)gmail.com

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the chance! i hope i can win one..

Crystal(manhattandolls[at]gmail.com)

Brooke said...

I'm adding you to my fav. blogs right now! I'm going to go check your pattern out too!

I think this is a great idea!

Thank you so much!
;-)Brooke

evilactionfigure said...

I love your gift bags.
dakotal5(at)hotmail(dot)com

Anonymous said...

Hi, what a could idea! May I try for one. Here's my addy:
I don't care about the spam.

Stephanie
junktime2000@yahoo.com

Best wishes,
Stephanie

Anonymous said...

thanks for the chance to win. Great bags!

markymarcela(at)hotmail(dot)com

jill m said...

wonderful, wonderful movement you've started...will do the same this holiday.

Kristie said...

What a great idea. I would love to be considered for the drawing.

kmabernathy32 at msn dot com

Thanks!

RubyJunes said...

I'm so inspired by all of your efforts! Great stuff!

JeanneJ said...

your bags are SOOO CUTE. thanks for sharing. Jeanne

Breanna S. said...

thanks for the download

Katie Yang said...

As much as I love paper wrapping, the ripping and throwing away completely annoys me too! Fabric gift bags are so much more sensible :)

Megan said...

I'm a little confused as to if the contest is going or not. But if it is, then please include me in the drawing! and I will have to check out the pattern! Thanks

Ginny said...

I haven't figured out how to sew yet, but if I ever do I will make some of these! I'd love to win some, I hate the waste as well!

Genevieve P said...

I love this idea! I think I'll have to pick up some holiday fabric...
parknj at verizon dot net

mary grace said...

these are great! i'll download the pattern just in case i don't win but with as busy as work is this time of year... i really hope i do!! :)

Buckstop319 said...

how neat. please include me. Thank you very much.

Julie said...

What a terrific idea! Fabric gift wrapping! :) Thank you for the inspiration.

mjslmATbigpondDOTnetDOTau

Anonymous said...

Ahhh! That's why people don't type out their e-mail addresses fully.

Harmony said...

I love it that you just keep expanding the mission/vision.

For those who don't win, and don't sew, here are few sites where you can buy reusable fabric wrapping:

http://www.luckycrow.com/
http://www.zenwrapping.com/
http://www.lagniappegiftwrap.com/

When I am in need of inspiration I can always count on the greenbaglady to deliver a boast of creative, caring energy!

Kym said...

Those bags are great! I've been trying to come up with ways to package gifts this year, but all seem too time consuming. Those look so simple. If I don't win, I will be making some.

Unknown said...

I am going to make some of these. They will save a lot of paper from being wasted, both gift wrap paper and money paper.

Becky said...

I love these. I'm inspired to hit the sales after the holiday, but this year I NEED YOURS. Wish me luck. Thanks for all you do. Keep spreading the word.

Jennie said...

What a great idea! And these are so cute, too!

Anonymous said...

Wonderful idea! I will also make one, but would love to win one as well. Thanks for the chance.

RebeccaMom said...

Great idea, I have been so sad when throwing out all of that paper on Christmas Day. I never thought of distributing bags to our family for their use. I will definitely be using your pattern! Thanks!

mummy2jj said...

what a awesome idea of using fabric bags to wrap your Christmas presents! certainly save filling up a couple of recycling bins with paper!
i love bags i am obsessed with them! they are just so handy

Sarah Vanderburgh said...

I have been truly inspired by your website. You have humbled me into remembering the true meaning of giving. Thanks for the giveaway. I have changed my ideas for my own giveaway to now include a green bag. sarahvanderburgh AT sympatico DOT ca