Homemade Paper Pouches for Teacher Gifts, Party Favors

Thank you Sarah of Sheek Shindigs for sharing this idea on Pinterest.

If you know me, you know this mother loved spending her Mother's Day watching my children safely roam through a pesticide-free strawberry field at Grantville, GA's Lone Oak Farms. To turn our harvest into end-of-year teacher gifts, we just needed to create containers for the berries before they lost their freshness. These paper pouches were quick and fun to create.

I used scrapbook paper and parchment paper, but later in the week our kids in Ecology Club reused paper grocery bags for popcorn pouches. You could also reuse gift wrapping paper, gift bag paper or newspaper. The parchment paper is not necessary, just a bonus if you are using the pouches for something damp like fruit.

Here's how simple:

Step One:  Fold your paper over to create a triangle, long side about the length of a ruler, fine to eyeball it. If you are using parchment paper or another liner for effect, fold over and cut out slightly smaller triangle.

 

Step Two (Optional): Fully insert and center parchment paper or whatever you are using a a liner inside larger paper triangle.

 

Step Three:  Fold bottom right corner up and across, touching midpoint of opposite edge, crease.

 Step Four: Repeat by bringing opposite bottom left corner across, crease.

 

Step Five: Fold one side of the paper and parchment liner down, crease.

Step Six:  Flip piece over and fold down remaining tips, crease. Then press pouch open.

  Step Seven:  Flatten bottom by pushing up, and bending up bottom corners.

Et voilà! Fruit paper pouches, popcorn pouches, pouches for collecting treasures or making festive party favors. We added a sticker to ours that said, "If we could have chosen who would take care of our kids at school this year, we would have picked you!" Haha.

I like the idea of making these from reused materials rather than making a trip to the dollar store when you need a small container or gift bag. One more way to alter the ending of our nation's Story of Stuff.

The Story of Stuff

Why do we buy so much stuff and expect low prices? Why have U.S. companies outsourced manufacturing to other countries? Check out this 20-minute presentation (http://www.storyofstuff.com/) to understand how the world suffers by America's consumption habits. It has made me rethink my glee over dirt-cheap bargains. It motivates me to spend my money with ethical, local businesses rather than franchises and chains. I may pay a percentage more, but in the process I can support business practices I respect, cut out the waste of shipping, and get a product/service I can trace to its roots. (Also, I am not asking another person to pay with their quality of life for my low cost -- watch the Story of Stuff!).

True I still forage in Marshall's and Tuesday Morning from time to time, but I also discovered Labaire Pottery in Norcross, GA. They have beautiful original pottery, jewelry, paintings, and other home decor gems all made by American artists (including owner Anne Labaire who paints vibrant landscapes). For ten years, they have been "celebrating American ingenuity, talent and creativity." Now I do too, everytime I buy a gift there. (UPDATE: Anne Labaire closed her lovely gallery and now works and sells her art down the block at the Kudzu Art Zone, http://www.kudzuartzone.org). Another excellent venue is the local arts and crafts festival. Georgia is home to a bounty of these.

Two favorites of mine are the Inman Park Festival in the spring(http://www.inmanparkfestival.org/) and the Yellow Daisy Festival at Stone Mountain Park in the fall (http://festivals.stonemountainpark.com/mini-section/default.aspx?id=14). Delay gratification, make a wishlist, save your money, and when the festival comes to town, go hunt for something original and fun.

Alternatively, there's Ten Thousand Villages (http://www.tenthousandvillages.com/), which although not solving the packaging/shipping dilemma, does pay its artisans a fair wage, helping families in Africa, Asia and Latin America attain a better quality of life.

If you happen across this post and know of other purveyors of local or handmade merchandise, no matter where, please post their contact info below.

More to follow on awesome locally-owned (and supplied) restaurants.