How To Decorate Burlap Bags For Gifts Or Just For Fun

You can use all kinds of things to decorate burlap bags. The decorated bags for gifts will bring a smile to the recipient’s face.

The bags are a great way to gift wine, gift cards, t-shirts, socks, you name it. They are reusable so it’s like you’re giving two gifts. Win-Win.

Having a large stash of ribbons, vintage jewelry, and pom poms, means I was prepared for decorating when I found a bunch of the burlap bags on the cheap.

How fun, the bags are almost too pretty to give away. The customization ideas for the bags are endless.

If you aren’t in to fru-fru try these decorating ideas….. stenciled monograms, recycled belts, fishing lures hanging from the drawstrings (ha!), etc. I bet you can come up with more ideas.

Today is Thrift Store Decor day and the girls have another round of awesome projects.

You can find the links to the thrift store makeovers at the end of the post. First let’s see how to decorate burlap bags.

The bags were 50 cents each. I spotted them at the flea market/thrift shop/ antique mall where I have a booth.

The vendor was having a 50% off sale. I couldn’t resist.

Just a bit of my ribbon and pom pom stash. I pick up this stuff when I find it on the cheap.

I also went into my junk jewelry stash and pulled out things I thought might work on the bags.

I’ve had this rack of fuchsia lace trim for a long time and keep trying to use it in craft projects. This is the first time where it’s worked out.

I decided how to decorate each bag by first laying the things out and finding the best look.

More later on how I should have thought things out a little better. Live and learn.

Because it’s so hot in the workshop these days I brought all the supplies to the house and worked on the dining room table.

The colors in the tutorial photos are a bit off because of the lighting.

I used hot glue to adhere everything to the burlap bags.

A little hot glue goes a long way and I used toothpicks to place a small dab of glue between the lace and the bag. Didn’t need big globs for the lightweight lace.

The bag above was a no go. I thought the placement of the ribbon was just right, placement a little above the bottom and a lot below the top. Wrong.

I should have put a wine bottle in the bag first to check the placement before gluing anything on. Good thing I have a lot of those bags.

I hot glued the fuchsia lace to a second bag. Next I clipped the back off of a vintage earring.

For the earring I placed a large dab of hot glue on the back before placing it on the top of the lace.

One bag down and two more to go. Always make things and create decorate displays on tables etc. in uneven numbers.

I ran a small bead of hot glue down the ribbons and the rick rack then stuck them to the bags.

Second bag gets blue ribbon with sparkles and pom poms on the drawstrings.

This is the backside of the bag. The bags should look good all the way around, front and back.

The front side of the bag. My first idea was to place pom poms in a straight circle all the way around the bag but decided that would just look tacky. This design is much better.

I love rick rack. Maybe because it was so popular when I was growing up in the “old days”. I hit 66 this year but don’t feel it. I feel more like 40!

Anyway, I cut the rick rack to size then hot glued the strips all the way around the bag.

Again I used an uneven number  decorating the bag with 5 strips of white rick rack. The vintage faux pearl and gold tipped earring was the perfect finishing touch. Placement just willy nilly.

Your friends who appreciate vintage things would love the burlap bling and lace gift bags. Think about it.

The earring could be placed anywhere on the bag. I tried putting a touch of jewelry on the drawstrings but the jewelry didn’t hang right because of the weight.

The earring wanted to hang facing downward where you were looking at the underside of the jewelry. Not a good look.

It was hard for me to pick a favorite so I didn’t. I like the neutral look of the white rick rack with the light brown burlap. Find similar burlap bags on Amazon here.

In fact the white and light brown color combo is my favorite look in a lot of things. I like unfinished wood with white painted details too. I know that’s hard to believe since I like color so much.

I love pom poms too but I’m so glad I didn’t put a ring of pom poms around the bag.

Can you pick a favorite? If you have time leave a comment with your thoughts. I read all the comments and respond to as many as I can.

I have a few more bags and I might go masculine with the next bunch I decorate.

One of my favorite projects is the pretty flower pot I decorated using the paint pour technique. You can see the video below…. 

Paint Pour Technique for Faux Marbled Look

Time to take the Thrift Store Decor Tour. Just click the text links below the “before makeover” photo collage….

Burlap Gift Bags
T.V. Tray Table Makeover
Badminton Racket Repurpose
Upcycling a Clam Hod as a Pumpkin Basket
Carved Tray Makeover
Mirror Makeover Using Chalky Paint
Octopus Shell Art

Have a great day and thanks for spending part of your day with me, Kathy

Kathy Owen

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Author: Kathy Owen
Kathy Owen is the founder of the home decor blog Petticoat Junktion where she shares tutorials on painting furniture and upcycling thrifty finds into unique home décor. Her DIY projects have been featured on the Home Depot Blog, Plaid Crafts, Behr Designer Series, and in numerous magazines. Kathy’s newest website is HappyHomeDIY.com