Carolyn J. Braden • 3 Minute Read
How to Make Tissue Paper Look Good In a Gift Bag
Once again, my niece is inspiring me and my creative talents. My very first YouTube video in 2008, “How to Make a Baby Diaper Cake”, got over a million views when I posted it over 16 years ago. Anything I’ve created because of her has always been a favorite of my online and in-person community. She brings out the best in myself (and so many others), which helps me create out of pure love. Anytime you create something with true love being the focus, it will always turn out perfect.
The finished gift bags with tissue paper
So, when she was turning 16, I put together a weekend trip for her and her (and my amazing sister-in-law) to visit us in Sanibel Island, Florida before we put the house for sale in March of 2024. After dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Ian for over a year (and all the lawyers and insurance craziness), we quickly understood our time on Sanibel wasn’t going to be forever.
It’s sad to give up somewhere you always wanted to live and worked hard to make happen (we moved there in 2020 from Louisville, Kentucky after renovating an 1800’s house for 12 years), but we will start a new chapter in Georgia and we know in our hearts that there are better things on the horizon for us.
Before we listed, I wanted to fill the house with some good energy to send it off in a happy and joy-filled way, so my husband and I gifted my niece a trip to Sanibel. Gifting a memory filled adventure to someone on a milestone birthday is always a fun idea. It was also my mom’s 70th birthday, so I really wanted to do some little fun things that weekend.
How I put the gift bags together
To make the trip extra memorable, I first ordered some gift bags and sunglasses to add some nifty gifties for her and our crew. I decided to add the gifts to the cute Hello Weekend bags I found on Temu for around $5.
They are reusable totes made with burlap and fully lined with a zipper pocket inside. I knew they could all use them as beach totes during their trip and then could use them at home as a purse or an everyday tote. You can also get some similar small burlap totes on Amazon.
Our crew with my husband for my niece’s Sanibel birthday weekend
I also ordered a lot of white heart sunglasses. I got around 10 pairs for $11 on Temu too. I like to buy heart sunglasses in bulk because I like to bling them up. You can get a similar pair of heart sunglasses on Amazon.
As seen in the photo above, I ordered a bikini shirt coverup on Amazon as a funny thing for my husband to wear, as it was his sister that visited with my niece, so he of course, did beach time with us. The shirt helped him fit in…lol! It definitely got laughs from many.
The Hello Weekend bags I ordered: use code afe55197 at Temu checkout to get 30% off
I added sprinkles to a pair in and called them Sprinkle sunglasses. I ran out of time before her birthday weekend (it was kind of a last-minute idea), but if you have time to personalize the sunglasses like I did for my birthday in 2023, it would be cute, but they are cute on their own too.
Heart sunglasses: use code afe55197 at Temu checkout to get 30% off
See my Sprinkle sunglasses tutorial below or via my YouTube channel @carolynjbraden:
To make the bags look even better, I remembered my time working at Hallmark in college and decided to add some fluffy tissue paper to each. At Hallmark, we always had to create tissue filled bags for people to grab on the go.
I would also be in charge of the store window displays sometimes and had to make gift bags pretty for advertisement purposes. This gift bag hack is extremely simple and I’ll never add tissue paper to a bag without using this gift bag tissue paper trick.
Here’s how to make tissue paper look good in a gift bag:
1—I added a few tissue paper wrapped items to each bag. I gifted them some skincare and candles. We love Milkhouse Candle Company candles. They smell so good and are made with soy wax.
Lay out your tissue paper pieces horizontally and vertically
2—I laid out a piece of tissue paper going horizontal and then laid a piece on top going vertical.
Pinch the pieces together and shake
3—I pinched the middle of the tissue paper pieces to hold them together and then shook the pieces once into the air outward and they instantly fluff up. See my tissue paper hack video tutorial below to see a one-minute demonstration.
4—Then I added the fluffy pieces to the bag. I repeated it with a second set of tissue paper pieces as my bags required a bit more due to their size.
The finished Hello Weekend tote and fluffy tissue paper gift
I hope this helps your gift bags to always look pretty. I’ve had numerous people say they’ve tried this tissue paper trick and now will always use it. Gift bags are an easy way to gift something, and going an extra step to make it look nice rather than just throwing something in a bag will always be noticed by the recipient.
I set the totes on their bed in our guest bedroom
Pretty wrapped gifts are one of my favorite things because I think they whisper an extra “I love you” to someone you truly love, like my beautiful, sweet, loving and super deserving of the very best life can offer niece.
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Carolyn J. (C.J.) Braden is the owner of Carolyn’s Blooming Creations is a regular contributor and editor for CBC. She has been featured in numerous media publications such as InStyle Magazine, on HGTV, on Bustle.com, and more. She is the author of the books Georgia McMasters in Amethyst Lake Cemetery, How To Be Yourself: 3 Ways To Help You Being You, and the illustrator for the children’s book Bridging Connections. She is a former classroom teacher that now dedicates her life to educating others on how to live their most healthy, creative and happy life. Learn more about her visiting our About Us page.