Coffee Bag Bag

I love crafting with duct tape! Trivia: My freshman year of college, I made a dress out of hot pink and orange duct tape, and wore it to our formal dinner at the end of the year. So I have a fond place in my heart for duct tape. I also have a fond place in my heart for coffee.

I have been saving my empty coffee bags for awhile now (this project used 6 total), and I knew I would find a great way to use them. Enter: the coffee bag bag.


I didn't take any pictures of the process, but it was pretty simple. I started out by taking the 4 bags for the outside and opening them up and flattening them out. The 2 orange ones show pretty much the whole thing, and the blue and gold ones show just what was the front of the package. I used clear packing tape to attach them all together in a line, and then taped the ends together to form the main part of the bag. The folds of the coffee bags actually work with you for this part. I also folded down the top and bottom edges and taped them with their first layer of duct tape so they would look pretty. With me so far? Good.

Then I moved on to the bottom of the bag. I taped together two miscellaneous other brand bags I had saved, so that they were slightly longer than the bag. Then came the tricky part of maneuvering that into the bottom, and taping it in. I used small pieces of duct tape to keep it in place, and then went over the entire bottom with tape (so from the outside, it just looks black on the bottom). I taped all around the edges of those bags on the inside as well, so it would be nice and sturdy.

I put an extra layer or two of tape around the top and bottom of the bag for extra support, and to make the edges prettier. Then I made the handles. I cut 4 pieces of craft wire (2 for each handle), put them on the sticky side of a piece of duct tape, and taped another one to it, carefully lining up the edges. And then I added another 2 layers, again, for sturdiness. I taped them to the top of the bag and voila! it's done! The craft wire is optional, but it helps the handles keep their shape a bit better.

I think it turned out really well, and while the tape edges aren't perfectly lined up, it's still a really cool one-of-a-kind bag. I think I may even get some of the small 2 oz. coffee bags from the grocery store so I can make some little pockets on the inside from them.