Have you ever made paper bag snowflakes? Back when I was a teacher, this was a big thing. I’d spend hours making tons of paper snowflakes to hang up in my classroom. When the kids came back to school after Thanksgiving break, they were all hanging from the ceiling tiles! It was a big like a winter wonderland.
Despite how much I loved making these all those years ago for my classroom, I’ve never before made them for my actual house.
WHY?!
This year, I decided it was time. We added the peg rail to the entry this year, and it felt like the perfect place to hang a DIY paper bag snowflake garland.
And ohhhhh boy, was I ever right.
I cannot stop swooning over how this turned out. I promise you, it’s so easy!
Let me teach you how.
how to make paper bag snowflakes
This is a SUPER EASY project that anyone can do. My 8-year-old made several of our snowflakes!
All you need is…
- A mix of brown and white paper bags (you’ll need 7 per snowflake)
- Hot glue gun (regular glue works fine too, but this is much faster)
- Scissors
- Tape, if you want to be able to easily save them for next year.
Step one: glue bags together
You’ll start by gluing 7 paper bags together.
Make sure they’re all facing the same way, with the bottom of the bag facing up. Add glue in the shape of a “T”, along the bottom of the bags, and then down the center, as shown below.
Once you’ve added glue to the first bag, press the next bag on top of it. Repeat, until you have a stack of seven bags glued together.
step two: cut snowflake shape
Now, cut out the shape for your snowflake. There’s genuinely no right or wrong way to do this. You’ll want to start from the top of the bag and cut off the corners – you can cut in a straight line, a curved line, or any kind of line you want.
For extra detail, you can also cut shapes out of the sides of the bags. Below are a few photos that show you some cuts I made and the snowflakes that resulted!
You get the idea – it’s easy! Just make sure you have some sharp scissors and don’t think too hard about it.
step three: assemble snowflake
Now, you’re basically done! All you need to do is grab the top of each side and pull it apart to create the snowflake. I like to hold them together with tape, so it’s easy to take them back apart and store them flat for next year!
Just roll up about three pieces of tape and place them in a T-shape along one side of the stack of bags (just like you did with the glue), then open it up and secure!
Step Four: Hang Paper bag snowflake garland
Now, you’re ready to hang it up! You can add string to the top and hang from the ceiling, or you can do what I did and hang them up on the wall!
If I had glue dots on hand, I probably would have used those to secure them to the wall. I didn’t, so I just used thumbtacks stuck through the back of each snowflake. For the ones that are layered on top of other snowflakes, I either stapled or taped them together.
And that’s it! This is a super simple project and I am SO GLAD I decided to try it. This is for sure gonna be an every year thing from here on out.
I even added a little extra touch and strung up some twinkly lights throughout them. It’s magical, and I am 100% in love!
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