Bag Toppers

I wanted to do a little something special for the boys today (the two that are home and my Little from Big Brothers Big Sisters), so I bought a bunch of candy and set out do do some bag toppers as a digital scrapbooking hybrid project.

I'm always seeing templates and downloads in the stores for purchase and have always thought "how hard can that be?"

It wasn't that hard and took me very little time to do it! Here's how.

First, choose your bag size. Your topper should be created based on the size of your bag. I am sure there are a variety of bag sizes. Since I was only make three and really filling them up, I used a gallon size bag. For class parties or more volume, use a smaller bag.

Manually place a piece of paper over the bag and eye how big it must be to fit as a topper. Fold it in half.

Remove it from the bag and cut the excess to create a template.

Measure the template. This is all you will be utilizing the template for. The size you measure is the size that you will utilize as a new file in Photoshop Elements (or other program).


In Photoshop Elements, find the horizontal center. I used the new guide in Photoshop Elements 8. Place some items, such as I did the circle and the journal mat, so that they will be included on both sides when folded. For other items, duplicate them and rotate them. For the border and the ribbon, I used Image/Rotate/Flip Layer Vertical. For the text and the sign that needed to be readable, I used Image/Rotate/Flip Layer Vertical and then also applied Image/Rotate/Flip Layer Horizontal.



When printed, fold the topper in half and staple it to the bag! Easy! It took me about an hour to make the whole project (less all of the time I spent on distractions!) You could glue on bows, buttons, and other items, but since mine are for boys, I kept it non-girly!

Here is my three bag toppers -- ready for making smiles!

You may download the topper I made today for a limited time here (and then in the Subscriber Area). Print it out and staple it on!

Download (I used my own kits available in the Subscriber Area for this project.)