Little Pink Studio: Tuesday tutorial: Neapolitan paper bag book

Hello! Sorry to have to postpone the Tuesday tutorial, but I battled a headache ALL day yesterday, and just couldn't get it up. But I'm excited about this tutorial and ready to get started, are you?

This little book was created with simple paper bags. I used white paper bags that I had found at Target quite some time ago. I know paper bag books have been around forever, but I still like to make them from time to time as the bag openings allow for great little pockets for memorabilia and extra photos. Plus, they're in almost every kitchen! If you have never made a paper bag book before, I simply fold the bags in half, and once I have embellished and covered all of my pages, I just sew them together right down the middle. Many people may prefer to sew them together first, but I like to do it after as I just find it easier to work with the pages when they're still loose.

I cover the whole surface of my bags with either the paper or fabric that I am using.

In addition to the paper bags, we also need the following items to complete this little book.

I used two paper bags, but you can use as many as you would like.

Vintage scraps of fabric and lace

Sheer fabric (I used vintage dotted swiss, my favorite.)

Miniature crocheted doilies ( I used our petite crochettes, found here)

For the papers, stickers, and embellishments I used the wonderful Neapolitan line by Dear Lizzy. This is one of the sweetest lines of papers and embellishments I have seen in a really long time. You can find all of those materials right here, and the buttons are here.

Stamp,dye ink, and watercolor paints, and watercolor paper.

And you'll need your favorite adhesives.

Ok, let's get started!

I worked on this book while we were on a trip and staying in our camper, and I forgot my watercolor paints. My husband picked up the standard Crayola water color paints that children use at the grocery store for me, and you know what? They worked just fine! I was surprised how well they blended to make the skin tone and shading.

The image I used is a super cute stamp found here at Stamping Bella. If you're planning on watercoloring your image, make sure you use a dye ink, as they dry fast and are permanent. (I carry two different sizes of dye inks in the shop.) After I had painted my little gal, I also added some water color to my lace and fabric trim.

Cover your first paper bag with fabric and a collage of the Neapolitan papers.

Throughout the book I created even more pockets for tags, journaling, and memorabilia. To create pockets, simply adhere your background paper or fabric to your bag, and then using a coordinating fabric, paper, or lace trim simply create a pocket by adhering the sides and bottoms only to your background. (leaving the tops open) Easy peasy.

To add additional pages to your book, you can simply fold a sheet of scrapbook paper in half and attach that between the to paper bags. This creates a petite page, or flap. Embellish just like a regular page, or use for extra journaling.

I created the little slide for the tag on this page by cutting out the words "adore" and only gluing the ends. This allows the tag to slide through.

On this page, I covered the scrapbook paper with vintage dotted swiss, and added the super cute "smile garland" from the Neapolitan line. There's room above the garland for photos and journaling on the tag.

I embellished throughout the whole book with our petite crochettes, and stickers and buttons from the Neapolitan line.

I also used fabric (both vintage and new) as well as lace throughout. I love to mix of the scrapbook papers and embellishments with my favorite vintage lace and fabric. It just feels more "me" this way.

The last photo in this little collage shows how you can also slide tags and other items into the pockets that are created by the paper bag.

This little book can be created in an afternoon, and it makes a super cute keepsake.

I have put together a little add on kit for this project and it can be found here. The add on kit contains the stamped image, a both vintage and new fabrics, vintage lace, vintage trims, white paper bags, and our petite crochettes. The add on kit coordinates with all of the papers and embellishments from the Neapolitan line that can be found in the shop.

Please note that the kit will ship on Monday for two reasons. 1. I'm waiting on a couple components to arrive, and 2. I will be doing a large shop update at the end of this week, and I want to be able to combine those orders for you if you want a kit, plus want to shop on Friday.

As always, if you have any questions at all, please email me! I'm more than happy to help.

Happy crafting, Cerri xoxo