I was playing around with a piece of paper with the intention of making my own paper flowers but in the end this is what I made. It is quite simple to make. I used a piece of oblong paper
approx. 8"x6". I creased it at approx 1/2" increments (lengthwise) on my scorpal. Then scored it in half across the shortest part. I then folded it in half where it was creased. It suddenly came to me that it looked a bit like a drawstring bag and all thoughts of the flowers went straight out of the window. I cut a piece off the top to get the size I needed and made small holes in the pleats to hold my ribbon. I cut two strips of paper(the length of the bag) and pleated these twice each to make the gusset for the sides. I glued these in place and left it to dry. I then threaded my ribbon through the top and gingerly pulled up the ribbon. Whoopee it worked. I then embellished it with a tassle, a bow, pearls, flowers, a butterfly(found in the dark depths of my ATC drawer), a heart and two swirls. The swirls I cut on my wizard using mirror card which never photographs well. I am so pleased with my finished article. I can think of so many little gifts I can use these bags for and of cause they can be made in any size. If you are going to make one of these bags I suggest you use a piece of thin paper to practise as it can become a bit fiddly. If you do make a bag I would love to see the results so please leave me a link to your blog so I can have a peek.
I have entered this into a few challenges which are listed below.
http://creativecottagechallenge.blogspot.com/ no cards allowed
http://flutterbywednesdays.blogspot.com/2010/07/flutter-by-wednesday-112.html Open
http://fabnfunkychallenges.blogspot.com/ get into shape
http://totallypapercrafts.blogspot.com/ swirls and pearls
http://allsortschallenge.blogspot.com/ use a heart
http://scrappyfrogschallenge.blogspot.com/ girly
http://cinspirations.blogspot.com/ on the move (ribbon pull)
http://creativeinspirationschallenge.blogspot.com/ oldest thing in craft box