13 Clever and Crafty Uses for Brown Paper Bags

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Updated 08/08/20

Do you have a large stash of brown paper bags? You have choices beyond recycling them. They are useful for many craft projects and household solutions. Check out these ideas, and you'll wish you had even more paper bags to repurpose.

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Storage Boxes or Home Organizers

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Weave your grocery bags into sturdy (and stylish) storage boxes. You can also use them for making small gift baskets or as kitchen and home organizers and decor.
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Wrapping Paper

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Stockpile brown paper bags and use them to wrap all your gifts. Personalize them with embellishments such as rubber stamps, paint, or ribbons. It's a look that store-bought paper can't compete with, and it shows your loved ones you took the time to make their gift special.
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A Paper Bag Wallet

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Anyone can take home a new wallet in a paper bag. Not everyone can make one out of a paper bag: It's a fun, thrifty fashion statement.
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A Miniscrapbook

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Scrapbooking supplies can be expensive, and wouldn't you rather put that money into making the memories you are recording? Cut the cost of scrapbooking by turning paper sacks into mini-scrapbooks.

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Sturdy Envelopes

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You can cut and fold your way to a steady supply of brown paper envelopes. They are so much nicer than boring white paper, especially for personal correspondence, and they are sturdy as well.
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Lovely Luminaries

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Turn a pile of paper lunch bags into festive luminaries for your next party or holiday celebration. Use rubber stamps to personalize them, and they will add a lovely glow to your evening event.
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Compost Material

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Do you need more brown to balance the green in your compost? If you have far too many food scraps and grass clippings and not enough dry leaves, you can use paper bags for balance. Shred paper bags, and add them to your compost pile for a boost of browns.
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Book Covers

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Go old school and cover your kids' textbooks with brown paper bags. As a bonus, your child can personalize them so that their book covers won't be like everybody else's.

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Ripen Fruit

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You can ripen avocados, tomatoes, bananas, or peaches by sticking them inside a brown paper bag. This is a basic kitchen trick.
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Store Mushrooms

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Stick mushrooms inside of a paper bag and store them in the fridge to keep them fresh longer.
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A Vase

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Share flowers with a friend without giving up one of your vases. An empty drink bottle tucked inside of a paper bag looks great. Or use the bags themselves to make vases to give as gifts or to house your own indoor plants.
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Flypaper

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Don't waste money on products to get rid of pesky—and disease-bearing—flies. Use a paper bag instead to get the job done. Cut the bag into strips and make your own flypaper in a few easy steps.

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Weed Blocker

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Use paper bags in place of pricey landscape fabric. Just lay it down wherever you want to eliminate weeds and cut slits for your plants to stick through.