Pimp That *Trader Joe's* Bag

I heart Trader Joe's. Since moving close to one I can't keep myself out of there and at least drop $50 everytime I go in! It's my go-to place for organic produce at a great price and just yummy stuff in general.

I couldn't wait for them to do their Christmas bags again this year. Every year they have specially printed bags just for Christmas. I loved the design so much last year that I cut out some of the pictures and framed them for Christmas decorations. Well Trader Joe's was so kind this year and designed their bag to be cut out on purpose! Wasn't that so nice of them? They provided cut-outs for gift tags and a chain decoration!

But lets be honest if we just used them cut out, they would be kinda flimsy. So I decided to pimp my gift tags and give them a little more character and weight with crafty things I had around the house like card stock, yarn, beads, ribbon, embroidery thread, and glitter. If you have this in your arsenal already, you are all set!

First, I cut out the tags that Trader Joe's so nicely provided on their bag. But I didn't use their cut lines, I cut on the outside of them because I thought that would be a great template for some embroidery floss. Then glued them on some black cardstock and cut them back out. I thought they were very pretty with just this added step. So if your not real crafty, you could stop there if you wanted.

If you want a little more pizzaz then pull out your extras and go to town stitching on embroidery floss, using ribbon and yarn for the tag string, sewing on some beads and finishing it off with glitter.

Then here you have it! Some of my favorites:

Gift tags for pretty much nothing. Thanks Trader Joe's! I couldn't have done it without you!

Here's where I'm linking up this week.