Coupon Matchup Shopping Trip

Each and every week there are sales all around that can be matched up with coupons to make great deals with little out of pocket expense. It helps to have an organized coupon binder and a coupon database to match sales flyers to.

In the last SmartSource Coupon Insert Flyer, there was a coupon to save $5 off Scrubbing Bubbles Daily Shower and conveniently Walmart 'rolled' back the price to $5.97 the following week. As I live in Ontario, I paid $1.75 per bottle after taxes and I had 2 coupons, so I used them both.

I also had 2 coupons left to save $10 off Multibionta Vitamins and took advantage of the Shoppers Drug Mart Sale that ended Friday. I got 2 bottles of vitamins for $3.99 each pre-tax. My camera battery is charging, so I couldn't take a picture this time around.  

Some of the deals this week include:


Shoppers Drug Mart:

Neilson Sour Cream is $1.99 - use $1 tear pad coupon and pay only $0.99
Clubhouse Gravy is $0.99 - use B1G1 FREE save.ca coupon and pay only $0.50
Kashi Granola Bars are $2.99 - use $2 mail out coupon and pay only $0.99

Zellers:

Palmolive Dish Soap is $1.77 - use $1 mail out coupon and pay only $0.77
Hunt's Tomato Sauce $1.25 - use $1 WUB 2 All-Bran Box Coupon and pay only $0.75

Walmart:

Club House Gravy is $0.77 - use BOGO save.ca coupon and pay only $0.39
Summer Fresh Dips are $2.97 - use BOGO Facebook coupon and pay only $1.49

Zehrs:

Gay Lea Gold Sour Cream is $1.99 - use $1 save.ca coupon and pay only $0.99
Oasis Refrigerated Juice is $2.99 - use $2 magazine coupon and pay only $0.99
Palmolive Dish Soap is $1.99 - use $1 mail out coupon and pay only $0.99

View the current coupon matchups for this week

There were a lot of great deals this week and I managed to snag only a few but saved a lot in the process. Shoppers Drug Mart advertised the 473ml bottles of Listerine Whitening Mouthwash for $4.99 and right beside they had a coupon for $5 off the purchase price. While Shoppers does not allow overages on coupons, they reduced the purchase by $4.99 and I paid only $0.65 in taxes. As you can see from the photo below, I bought 2 bottles. However, it was limit 1 coupon per person, so I brought my spouse with me.

I price matched Arm & Hammer Baking Soda for $0.63 at Walmart using the Giant Tiger sales flyer. These are needed each month for the refrigerator and freezer to deodorize, so it's a good item to stock up on, a little bit anyways.

I also needed some shower cleaner, so I checked my coupon stash and found a BOGO for Scrubbing Bubbles Mega Shower Foamer. While the product was not on sale, 2 bottles for $3.89 was fairly reasonable.

There was one last price match at Walmart for Neilson Chocolate Milk at $3.99 for 4L. This was matched to Zehrs sales flyer ending today. The last 4L that I purchased was not on sale and I paid $7.99 without a coupon. That's a $4 savings to me and I think I did pretty good buying 2 x 4L bags. The expiry date is 2 weeks away, giving us plenty of time to drink 8L. (I don't personally do this, but some people freeze milk and chocolate milk when they find a good deal).

Join the Coupon Clipping in Canada Group on Facebook

This group covers couponing in Canada, where to find coupons, using coupons and so much more!

One the biggest ways to save aside being frugal and using coupons, is to take advantage of sales that happen at set times of the year. For example, this week has been Black Friday everywhere! The official day being tomorrow, November 25, 2011.

What is Black Friday?

Black Friday is the day following Thanksgiving Day in the United States, traditionally the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. Merchants offer big discounts to encourage customers to shop at their stores.

Then the grand finale to the US Thanksgiving shopping weekend is Cyber Monday where you can get huge discounts shopping online! The official day for 2011 is Monday, November 28th.

What is Cyber Monday?

Cyber Monday is a marketing term for the Monday immediately following Black Friday, created by companies to persuade people to shop online. Look for e-codes or coupon codes to discount your purchases. Some e-retailers will automatically apply the discount without needing a coupon code. Be certain to read the terms and conditions of the sales discounts.

Click Here to View Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals in Canada

Frugal Meal on A Budget for Less Than $4

It's been a little while since I last posted because I can't seem to stay motivated once the cold weather hits! My spouse suggested that I do some cooking (that's not my job usually, I'm more the desserts creator). Tonight I challenged myself to make a balanced meal for 2 for less than $5!

Since becoming a member of Freebies Deals And Rewards I have learned many tips and tricks to reduce my overall expenses and one that I will forever cherish is buying meat from my local butcher instead of the grocery store.

I spend an average of $1.50 per pound to $2 per pound for my meats which really helps stretch a buck! Today I thawed a single chicken breast portion to make a sitr fry dinner which was $1.65.

And I was a little strapped for time, so I used a frozen stir fry mix called Zen Garden by Europe's Best. The bag cost $2.99 after a coupon and I used 1/3 of the bag, making the cost roughly $1 for this meal.

 

I decided to make a side of long grain and wild rice blend as well. It is the Sensations brand found at Sobeys stores. The bag was $3.99 but there's a lot of servings in this bag. From past experience, we can get eight 2 person servings, which works out to $0.50 per 2 person meal!

 

I used some seasonings and spices such as curry, vegetable seasoning, salt, soya sauce and saffron, which works out to only pennies for the entire dish! The final meal cost me only $3.15 (plus the spices and drinks). We had Nestea Iced Tea from a canister of powder mix that I bought for $1.99 on sale with a coupon. Since we can get 104 glasses from a canister, it's only about $0.02 per glass. We each had a glass with dinner making the meal less than $3.25 all in all!

I could have made it slightly cheaper by visiting a local farmer's market and buying fresh vegetables, preparing them for stir frying and freezing them for when I wish to make a stir fried dinner. I'm so happy that I was able to beat my self-challenge of dinner for under $5 and you can too! And think, you could go eat at McDonald's for $17! No thank you!

For more meal ideas, visit the Cuisine Forum at Freebies Deals And Rewards.

Make Your Own Christmas Crackers and Save Money

Save money this year and make your own Christmas crackers. Stretch your dollar even further plus be kind to our environment and reuse the Christmas crackers year after year!

SUPPLIES:
Toilet rolls or paper towel rolls - cut to desired size
Scraps of Christmas fabric
1 1/2 to 2" spools of ribbon
1/4" spools of ribbon
Christmas Cracker Snaps
Tissue paper to make paper hats - if desired
Jokes or sayings for inside Christmas Cracker
Small chocolates
Small gifts or prizes

INSTRUCTIONS:
Cut pieces of fabric approximately 7" x 11" using pinking shears, if available. If you use bigger rolls for the base of your Christmas crackers, roll the tube in the fabric before cutting, gather up one end to determine approximately how much fabric should be left to wrap ribbon around it. For a tube that is 4" long, I have a 3 1/2" overlap at each end. You also need to allow about 1 1/2" of the circumference of the tube for over lapping. (if you have a sewing machine, you can do a narrow zigzag around the edges of the cut fabric)

Mark the centre of the tube and the centre of the fabric

Using your glue gun, run a bead of glue the length of your tube near your centre mark. Match up the centre of the fabric to the centre of the tube and press the fabric lengthwise into the bead of glue.

Roll the fabric around your tube and run another bead of glue on the tube and press the fabric into the glue so your tube is now completely wrapped in your Christmas fabric.

Take your wide ribbon, run a bead of glue at the end, centre it on the tube and press, bring the ribbon around, so it overlaps about 3/4". Cut and fold the raw edge under, run another bead of glue on the ribbon and place it carefully over where the ribbon started.

The length of thin ribbon you use to wrap the ends of your crackers, will depend on how big you want your bow to be. Before cutting off strips of ribbon, pull off about 2 feet so you have lots to work with (don't cut it) Now gather in one end of your Christmas cracker, wrap your ribbon around it, tie it and make a bow. When you are satisfied with how it looks and how much you want on the tails, mark it, then undo your bow so you can measure how much you used. You will now know how much to cut each ribbon, without wasting any. If you are going to reuse your Christmas crackers each year, you can put a small bit of glue in the centre of the ribbon, and glue it to the cracker where you will be gathering it in. That way you will always have the ribbons attached to the crackers.

While paper hats are always included in the Christmas crackers, I find most people don't wear them as they never fit and they are just added to the mounting pile of trash, therefore I don't bother with them. However if you do want to make them, take one sheet of tissue paper and fold length wise. Measure an adults head then divide by 2 and add about 1" so you can glue the edges together.

ie: if the head you measure was 24" you will need to cut your folded paper 13" (remember it's folded lengthwise)so you have 2 pieces that are each 13". Run a glue stick about 1/2" at each end of one sheet and stick them together. Draw 3 peaks in the folded edge, cut and you have your paper hat that should be 24".

What you decide to put into your Christmas crackers is up to you. I save chocolates from Halloween, but you could buy more expensive chocolates to use. Instead of the really cheap trinkets that are included in the store bought Christmas crackers, you could buy things to personalize them.

For young boys, you could use hotwheels. (These are often on sale) For girls, there are barretts, lip gloss, small gel pens. Often they have great stickers that are themed that both boys or girls would like. If someone collected angels, you may find a small angel that would be perfect or for someone who likes to sew, perhaps a fancy thimble. I don't think you can go wrong with Scratch tickets as everyone of all ages seems to like them.

If you have certain colours that you use in decorating your home, you could buy fabric for your Christmas crackers to complement your colour themes.

You could use the Christmas Cracker as the wrapping for a special gift for someone. Make a really fancy Christmas Cracker and it could hold a bracelet, necklace or watch for instance.

Of course you need to include a joke or inspirational saying. I used a search engine and typed in "Funny Christmas Riddles and Jokes" and found lots to choose from.
I have bought the Christmas Cracker Snaps at Michaels in the past, but you could also using search engine to see if you can find a distributor.

STORAGE:

If you plan on re-using your Christmas crackers, find a box that is big enough to store them in. I use discarded Christmas wrap, and stuff the tubes so they don't get flattened.

For more frugal Christmas decorating ideas, visit my Angel Decorations project and my Handmade Greeting Cards project.

Shopping Without Spending The Money!!

I like to shop online but I don't like to put out the cash to do it! Most of you would be thinking that I can't purchase then, right? Wrong! I shop without spending money out of my own pocket! How?

I participate in a number of online sites where I earn rewards and turn them into gift cards! Which ones pay me the most? Let's take a look:

1. Swagbucks - A search and win site to earn points and exchange them for prizes, I redeem for Amazon.ca or for PayPal. Either one feeds my desire to shop online. For more information, click here. If you haven't joined, click here to get started. My redemption table shows 61 prizes of $5 which is $325 for past 2 years which averages around $162 per year. Not bad for using a search engine. There are other ways to earn points too, but I only utilize searches, referrals and Swagcodes to earn my rewards.
2. Superpoints - A referral based point system which has been quite lucrative since my join date of May 2011. I've earned $100 in just 6 months of using Superpoints. They have a prize wheel, email points and surveys if you climb the membership ranks (by having friends join). I find the best way to get friends to join is to share my wins at Twitter and Facebook. Plus some forums allow you to put a referral link in your signature. This is how I found Superpoints. If you'd like an invitation to join, please leave a comment with your email if you wish, or you could leave a comment on FDR's Facebook page for an invite.
3. Web Perspectives - A survey site that pays various rewards including Chapters Indigo, PayPal, Cineplex and Air Miles Reward Miles (which can be redeemed for gift cards). The amount of money that I earn each year is roughly $100 dependng on the number of surveys I receive and qualify for. Click here to join Web Persepctives.
4. Asking Canadians - A site where you earn HBC Reward Points or Aeroplan Reward Miles for completing surveys. These reward points can be exchanged into gift cards for my shopping habit. This is the program which pays me the least but it's still worth the HBC Rewards that I get. I average around $40 each year that I've been a member. Join Asking Canadians today!

I've tried just about every site there is to check the validity and the earning potential. Many I opt out of after earning my first reward because there is too much time invested for such small payouts. This will vary from person to person due to differences in demographics. There are many more survey sites that pay well and can be viewed at FDR's Paid Survey's Forum. Plus there are other prizes sites that may be more successful for others, which can also be viewed at FDR's Prize Programs forum.

If you have any questions about these programs, leave me a comment and I'll reply back!

Angel Decorations Made Using Wall Paper

Completed angels: The first angel has wings that are pleated. The second angel has a heart for wings.

SUPPLIES:
BODY - Wall paper - 3" x 12"
WINGS - Wall Paper - 1- 4" x 8" strip for Heart Wings OR
1 strip - 4" x 6" for Pleated Wings
Pre-gathered lace - 4"
Ribbon - 2 - 12" thin pieces
Wooden Bead - 1 x 1" with flat bottom(for head)
Small amount of curly hair
4" strand of beads for Angel with pleated wings
Small piece of foiled covered wire for halo
Glue Gun
Fine Tipped Black Felt Pen (to make face)
Q-tip to apply blush to cheeks (optional)

To make an Angel with heart shaped wings, you will need to fold the 4" x 8" strip of wallpaper in half, so you have a 4" square. Glue it together and after it has dried cut a heart that measures approximately 4" across and 3 1/2" in depth.

Pleat the 3" x 12" piece of wallpaper so it has an accordion effect. Crease each pleat really well. The straight edge needs to be at the back at the beginning and end of pleating, so you may find you need to trim a piece off. You can either use white craft glue, placing a small amount on each side of the pleat, then secure with a Bulldog clip until it dries, or use a glue gun dabbing the folds front and back - secure for a couple of minutes until set. If you are using Pleated Wing, after pleating, you will need to use a small dab of glue in the centre of each pleat. Once dried the wings should fan out at each end.



If you are using the Heart for your wings, take the piece of gathered lace and glue around the top of the pleated wallpaper. Then using a glue gun, run a bead of hot glue down the centre of the heart and glue at the back of the pleated section as shown.

For Angel with pleated wings, using your glue gun, run a bead along to top of the pleated body and press the centre of the pleated wings into the glue.
For either Angel use your glue gun and glue the flat end of the wooden ball, then press it firm onto the centre of the Pleated wings as shown, or press it onto the gathered lace of the Angel with the heart wings.
Using your felt pen make a face on the angel, if desired. Take your q-tip, put some blush on the end then rub it in circles under the eye area, for highlighted cheeks. Take your curly hair twisting it tightly then put some glue on the underside and glue to the top of the wooden bead. Take a thin piece of ribbon or gold thread, knot it and glue into the centre of the hair area, so you will be able to hang your angel. With the piece of foil covered wire, make a loop and twist it to form a ring. Run a bead of glue on one edge of the ring and stick it on the hair to form a halo. Glue beads and/or ribbon under the Angel's head and you are finished.

TIP: I used fancy paper scissors to create a fancy edge at the bottom of my angels, before I pleated them.

These are simple and inexpensive decorations which can be assembled for pennies to use for the upcoming holiday season. They make great tree ornaments or they can even be used as package decorations! Check with your local wallpaper store to find discontinued wallpaper books that are given away for free! They are absolutely essential to making crafts for next to nothing! Happy crafting!

Add to Your Stockpile For Next to Nothing!

Every week before I go shopping I check out the Coupon Matches which the Freebies Deals And Rewards members share at my favourite money saving forum! I copy and paste the best deals (that I have coupons for) and head to my local store(s) to snag the deals!

I would generally recommend that you visit one store like Walmart or Zellers and price match the items you wish to purchase from all store fliers in one place. Having said that, I've found that my Walmart and Zellers aren't stocking the same sizes as the sale items, so I sometimes make multiple store visits to do my best deals shopping!

My most recent deals include the following and a breakdown of how I paid so little:

• The $1, $2, $3 No Frills sale offered Dove deodorant for $1. I was lucky to make some coupon trades with friends in British Columbia and scored 4 Unilever insert coupons to save $1 off any Dove product! So after taxes I paid $0.13 each, totalling $0.52 out of pocket (oop) for 4 units.
• Zehrs had another sale on Cottonelle for $4.44. I traded coupons with friends locally and managed to score 1 printable coupon worth $3. So after taxes I paid $2.04 for 12 double rolls (after taxes were applied). 
• The $1, $2, $3 No Frills sale had 2 different laundry detergents on sale, Purex and Sunlight. I was able to purchase 2 of each variety. The Purex was $3 and I had 2 of the coupons left from trades with friends online for other high value (hv) coupons. My oop was $0.78 for 2 bottles (after taxes). The Sunlight was less savings but still a great deal. The sale price was $3 and I had 2 coupons for $1.50 savings. My oop expense for 2 boxes was $3.78 (after taxes).
• Another deal from the $1, $2, $3 No Frills sale that I was able to get were the Ziploc Sandwich bags (40 ct). I had 2 coupons that had no size restriction from Websaver.ca to save $2 when you purchased any 2 Ziploc brand products. So I grabbed 4 boxes and my out of pocket expense was the tax of 0.52 or a mere $0.13 per box (or I could break it down to per unit of $0.00325).
• I also utilized a rain check that I had in my wallet for 4 chocolate milk from Shoppers Drug Mart for only $0.99 each. I love the stores which offer rain checks when items go out of stock, especially sale items. It would be super if more stores would adopt the practice!

Although I was able to find other deals during my shopping excursions this week, these were the most notable and the best overall savings! What was your best deal of the week and how much money did spend for out of pocket expenses on your purchase(s)?

Halloween Decorating!

Well, it’s that time of year again. The leaves are changing colours, the air has a crispness to it... and the stores are selling massive, jumbo size boxes of chocolates and candy treats! Halloween must be near.

Whether or not you have little ones who partake in the off-putting, but well meaning “trick or treating” (such cute costumes!!), most people still like to decorate a little bit for these munchkins (and witches, and ghosts!) However, it can be expensive to decorate your house for one single night. Especially when older kids are apt to take that beautifully carved pumpkin of yours and smash it in the wee hours.

So how can you have Halloween without breaking the bank?? Here are some tips to get you by:

1. You don’t need a lot of decorations for your house to look good. A single pumpkin propped up on a small table and a glowing candle (or flameless candle to be even safer) can look wonderful. Add that with a pop of full mums and you’re good to go!

2. Looking for a little more? Go thrifty – dollar stores these days can work wonders. Get some cheaper decorations, like a couple of bags of spider webs and plastic spiders and see how far you can make these stretch (literally!) You can get a lot more bang for your buck this way.

3. If you have little ones, homemade decorations can really make Halloween fun! Even if you don’t have kids to do all the work, take a look online and in magazine for decorating ideas and get crafty! For instance, it doesn’t take much to stuff some old clothes with plastic bags or leaves and make a scarecrow. Paper bats hanging from your porch is easy to do and looks great!

4. Be sure to use what you already have around the house. Black sheets? Drape them around the house to make the place look spooky. Old costumes? Find a way to display them (or even better – get the kids to re-wear them!)

The internet is a great place to find more ideas, for less cost! Enjoy and be frugal.

Happy Halloween!!

Yesterday, I ventured out to do some coupon shopping and when I arrived at my grocery store, there was an abundance of tear pad coupons and booklets of coupons too! I didn't have any intentions of buying stuff but when I came around to the refrigerated section, the Pilsbury Back to School cookies were on sale for $1 and right beside was a coupon to save $0.50. Plus, on the reverse side of the package is a coupon to save $1 off any 2 Pilsbury Cookies.

I didn't know if the cookies were tasty or not, so I only purchased 2 packages. We baked one last night and half the plate was devoured before they even cooled. Worthwhile purchase? Yes, definitely! There are 24 cookies in a box for $0.50 after the coupon making the cookies only 2 cents each!

The above picture shows the coupons that I found! There were 13 tear pads and 2 booklets! So in total there were 23 different coupons available! Rock and roll coupon Gods! I also picked up a bag of Natrel milk to drink with our cookies (I used a coupon to save $1) and got another bag with over $12 in coupons on the back! I guess I'll have to buy 1 more bag of milk before the end of the month, when the $1 Natrel milk coupon expires.

Now I'm off to add some of these coupons to my coupon trade list at Freebies Deals And Rewards!

Have fun saving money!!

Make Greeting Cards using Scraps from Wallpaper

Here is a picture of three greeting cards I made using borders I took from discontinued Wall Paper Books. I picked the books up from one of our local Paint and Paper stores





 

These are a couple of borders with prints that I cut out and glued onto patterned wallpaper to make my card.






This picture shows one of the pictures cut out and matched with the piece I used for the card.







Here is the inside of the card. I have taken a piece of coloured computer paper and glued it on the inside of the card to cover the printing of the wallpaper. On another border print I found, I cut off the thin edge that was dark blue with stars on it and glued it at the top of the blank page.

On this card, I used the entire border print for the outside of my card. I cut a piece of complimentary coloured computer paper with decorative paper scissors leaving a border of about 1/4" and then it inside my card. After making your cards, you will need an envelope. I used an old envelope that my cards would fit in and carefully open the seams. I have marked the top and bottom of my template as I want to make sure when I trace it onto the wallpaper I use, there is no writing showing on the top flap. After I have folded in the flaps, I use a glue stick on the side flaps. If I'm mailing the envelope, I scotch tape over the top flap.

If you plan on making a lot of cards with envelopes, I would suggest you take the heavier inserts from your wallpaper book, that show finished rooms and trace your envelope onto that, otherwise the paper template gets pretty ragged and difficult to work with. These heavier pieces are also great to use when you are gluing to prevent getting your work surface covered in glue.



Using my envelope template, I have traced it on the backside of a plain piece of wallpaper. Notice the flap (far right) does not have any writing on it. It makes it look nicer when someone is opening the card if there is no writing showing. Most wallpaper books have plain off white pages, and these are what I use for my envelopes, however any pages will work and you can always attach a label if you are mailing it, so the address shows clearly.




Here are 3 finished cards with envelopes. Except for the inside of the cards where I used purchased coloured computer paper, everything has been made with wallpaper.


You are only limited by your imagination with the variety of cards you can create.

Weekly Shop N Save Deals

I like to consider myself a frugal shopper who buys what they need...but sometimes there are deals out there that are just too good to pass up! The regular coupon users know what I'm talking about! With coupon usage and price matching opportunities, I picked up a couple of items that I would normally not purchase. But I have some family members who do, so not a waste. I price matched and used coupons for everything pictured at my local Wal-mart store.

1. The relish is on special at Shoppers Drug Mart for $1.49 and I used a coupon for $0.75 and paid only $0.74 each. We don't use relish but our parents do, maybe we'll everyone a Christmas Hamper. Hmmm, that's an idea!
   
2. The flavoured Clover Leaf tuna cans are $0.99 each at Shoppers Drug Mart and I had a coupon to save $1 when I purchased 3, so I paid only $0.66 per can.
   
3. The Robax Platinum was a fantastic deal, they are on sale at Shoppers Drug Mart for $10.99. I was lucky enough to receive a $9 coupon from Diane Simon, thanks Shoppers Voice, I got this box for only $1.99 plus tax. Robax is going to be gifted to a parent as well!
4. The Degree Deodorant for Men are on sale for $1.64 at Real Canadian Superstore, but I also had 3 insert coupons and paid only $0.64 per 85g.
5. I had 2 P&G Brandsaver coupons left to save $1 off Secret Deodorant. On my last shop posted I paid $0.97 each (wish I'd waited), but today I paid $0.64 each after matching the Superstore and using the coupons.
6. The Dove Nourishing Oil hair care line is something I haven't tried before, but the Freebies Deals And Rewards Coupon Club Organizer sent me a coupon to save $2 off the purchase, plus there is a printable coupon to save $2 out as well. I treated myself to a shampoo and a conditioner for only $0.99 per bottle.
7. Lastly, I had 2 coupons to save $3 off Listerine Zero (any size) and since they are regularly priced at $3.37 at my Wal-Mart store, they were only $0.37 each.

After coupons and price matches, my pre-tax out of pocket (oop) cost was $11.37 but if I didn't use my coupons or utilize the price match guarantee, I would have paid $37.86 before any applicable taxes. So I'm pretty happy to save $26.49 on the items I could get with my coupon stash!

I'd love to hear other ways that people saved this week using coupons and price matches. If you have any questions about my shopping excursions, please leave a comment and I'll do my best to answer it for you!

Happy Labour Day everyone! Be safe!

Making Handcrafted Gift Bags from Discontinued Wallpaper

Using discontinued Wallpaper books available at Paint and Paper stores, I've selected several pages and made gift pages from the individual pages.

Here's a picture of a couple of books I recently picked up from one of our local Paint & Paper stores, plus a picture of several pages I cut out of the books.



The width of the page varies depending on the wall paper book. The sample I've shown below was 15 1/2 inches across. In order for the finished bag to be squared, you need to decide what size you would like your gift bag to be. Keeping in mind the wider you want the bag to be the small the front and back will be. In the example below, I've allowed 2 inches at the left side. In order to have the same width on the opposite side I have to allow 2". For the flap at the right hand side I've used 1 1/2 inches. As you can see, I've used up 5 1/2 inches on the width of my bag so far (2 + 2 + 1 1/2) Subtracting that 5 1/2 inches from the overall width of 15 1/2 inches leaves 10 inches. Divide that amount by 2 and I have a bag that will be 5 inches across. You can work with any width of paper, if you start by marking the inches for the sides first, that will leave you an amount to divide by 2 which equals your front and back on any bag. The turn up on the bottom of the bag has to be the same number of inches on you are using of the left hand flap - in this case 2 inches. Again this is so the bag will be squared when it's finished. From the picture below, you can see that I've also allowed 3 inches for the fold down flap at the top, however, you could make it 1 inch if you wanted a taller bag. Using a ruler I fold along my penciled lines and then run the handles of my scissors of the outside of the fold for a sharp crease. I also cut the bottom flap as shown on a slight "vee" shape to make it easier for gluing.
Fold the top flap down and then turn the paper over so the right side is facing. Put white all purpose glue on the 1 1/2 inch strip, from top to bottom as shown

The 1 1/2 inch flap will be glued on the outside and then slipped under the flap showing of the left hand side of this picture

Slip the glued flap under the flap on the 2 inch side. The glued edge will be on the inside of the 2 inch flap. Make sure the join is even from top to bottom and then use 3 or 4 paper clips or clothes peg to hold in place under the glue dries. After the glue has dried, removed the paper clips and apply the white glue to the 2 side flaps and the outside (good side) of the back panel. Fold the two flaps in and carefully fold the long flap with the glue on top of the flaps, then fold the last flap onto the glued long flap. You can put your hand inside to press down to make sure everything is stuck together. Let dry completely.



Bottom of the gift bag, with all the flaps glued and folded in.

You can now complete your by adding handles and a gift tag. You can use a few strands of raffia twisted together, macrame cord, or thinner cord purchased on spools from the dollar store. You can also cut strips of wallpaper about 1 inch side by 12 inches long. Fold the wall paper in half lengthwise, run glue down one edge, fold and use paper clips to hold in place until the glue sets.Add glue to the end of the strip and place inside the bag about 1 inch from the edge and use a paper clip to hold in place until glue sets. If you use raffia or cord, punch holes in the bag at each end, thread the cord through (right side to inside) and knot. Using a strip of wall paper about 2 inches by 4 inches, glue a plain piece of paper inside and trim. Once dry fold so you have a 2 by 2 inch tag. Thread crochet cotton or any heavier type cotton thread through the top corner of the tag and tie it on your gift bag. If you decide to make several at the same time, once they are completely dry, they can be folder the same way the store bought bags are folder which makes it easy for storage.

If the paint and wallpaper store in your area doesn't currently have any discontinued wallpaper books, ask them if you can put your name on a list so they will call you when they become available. Another place to get wallpaper is from thrift stores or yard sales. People often have left over rolls they put out for sale. If you manage to get a roll, you can make much bigger bags. I would suggest you practise making a bag on a sheet of wallpaper you don't particularly like so you can play around with it perfect your technique. Have fun.

Click HERE for a link I found years ago for making crafts with wallpaper. Several of the attached links in the original thread no longer work, but it may still help you come up with ideas of your own.