Carolyn J. Braden • 3 Minute Read
How to Make a Paper Bag Snowflake Garland
When I was little, I used to love making paper snowflakes. I even love making them as an adult, especially when I made some snowflake ballerinas during my time volunteering for the Louisville Ballet. When I saw paper bag snowflakes show up on Pinterest, I decided to make some and put my own spin on them. Read on to learn how to make a paper bag snowflake garland for cute boho Christmas decor or for anytime!
You can make different cuts than I did for different looks
Of Course, I Didn’t Invent the Paper Bag Snowflake
While paper bag snowflakes or paper bag stars have been out in the crafting world for a long time, I always liked seeing them but didn’t know how I’d use them. Then one day I thought about my balloon garlands that I often make and drape over my stairwell. I married the two ideas together and figured out how to hang the paper bag snowflakes like I hang my balloon garlands.
See me make a cute Temu necklace balloon garland in my one-minute video below or via my YouTube channel @carolynjbraden:
My Why
The main reason for doing this is because we bought a bunch of accordion style Christmas items from IKEA and I wanted to make some holiday décor to match. I also didn’t feel like dragging out all our Christmas décor (as our house is currently for sale and getting showings, so it needs to stay neat) but I still wanted to decorate a tiny bit. I tried to make some décor that fit in with our current home décor and aesthetic and these fit that for sure.
My husband really loved these paper snowflakes!
Other Options
You can make these with any size paper bags. You can cut them diagonally for stars for you can cut them rounded to make more flower-like décor. You can make them with brown paper bags, white paper bags or any color of paper bag. You can hang them from the ceiling or create the garland like I did. The possibilities are endless!
Minnie Pearl and Johnny Cash love my snowflakes
Project Supplies + Discount
Now for the project. Here’s what you need. If you shop Temu (their low prices are great!) use my direct link here to save 30% or use code afe55197 (for new app users).
Hot Glue Gun (Dual Temp, here’s a similar one to the one I use from Amazon)
XL Paper Lunch Bags (I got mine at Target, but here’s similar ones on Amazon or Walmart)
Regular Size Paper Lunch Bags (Amazon, you can also try colorful lunch bags like these on Amazon)
Scissors (Amazon, I used some heavy duty ones as the stacked bags could be a bit hard to cut)
If you are hanging them like I did, you’ll need string (I used jute string from Amazon) and/or thumbtacks or pushpins.
How-To:
Heat up your hot glue gun to a high temperature. Place a line of hot glue down the middle of your bag and a couple of lines at the bottom section of the bag (the closed end).
Put glue on the center and bottom of the bags
Stack another bag on top of the glue and repeat this process until you have 7 bags stacked and glued.
Make sure to cut the OPEN end of the bags
Allow the glue to cool. Cut the open end of the bag stack at a diagonal.
What you cut on one side, repeat on the other side too
Add a couple of cuts along the edges of the stack of bags. I did 2 triangular cuts on the XL bags.
I made more cuts on my smaller bags just to give them a different look
I did 4 triangular cuts on the regular sized lunch bags.
Fan the glued bags out slowly
Then, fan out your bags into a circular snowflake. IF your bags stick a bit like mine did (some of my bags were tightly put together from the manufacturing), so slow when fanning them out so you don’t rip them. Add some hot glue to the ends of the bags and glue them together to form the full snowflake.
The XL snowflakes were as big as me!
I made 5 XL stars and 5 regular sized snowflakes.
A tack and string helped keep the paper snowflakes in place
I cut some jute string and looped it through the cuts in the snowflakes and tied them to my stair railing.
Hanging the stars from my stairs
I first hung the XL snowflakes, then I hung the regular sized ones. Some slid down my railing, so I added a white pin in the string knot to keep it in place. I know I’ll have to fill in the holes probably, but these are so cute that it is worth it.
I love the results of the snowflake garland
You can add tiny snowflakes too…I even have small paper treat sacks I may layer over these 10 snowflakes. I’ve seen some people add white dots to the stars for extra décor and as I’ve said earlier, you can add colorful bags to this or round your edges instead.
My pups and husband love modeling this project with me and I am grateful
If you’ve tried this project or a similar one, let us know in the comments below.
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Carolyn 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.