St. Patty's Day Birthday Gift Bag

One of my daughter's little BFFs has a birthday on St. Patty's Day so I came up with a little gift bag for her with a birthday leprechaun.

I keep on-hand 7-1/2" x 10-1/2" kraft paper gift bags-- that was my base.  (That is the measurement minus the handles.)  I cut the jumping leprechaun from Simply Charmed (page 32) at 7".

The thing with a big cut is that you kind of have to add extra details and pop up some elements to keep the die cut from flattening out.  For this little guy, I hand-cut an extra lock of hair.  I glued it flush on the 'scalp end' and popped it up with 1/8" pop dots on the 'curl end'.  I also popped up his little hat and added a shamrock to the hat band cut from A Child's Year (page 31), cut at 3/4".  I added a vest layer to his outfit but cutting two jackets and cutting one away so that I could layer them and see the second layer, like a vest.  I added adhesive pearls for vest buttons.  I hand-cut lapels for the top layer, the jacket, and added a breast pocket and pocket square.  

To make him a 'birthday' leprechaun, I cut a little cupcake from Something to Celebrate (page 22) at 1".  I only cut the first two layers since it was so tiny.  I cut a "9" candle from the same cart (page 30) at 3/4".  I hand-colored (with pencils) the flame and wick.

To give him a "place" to exist, I trimmer-cut rainbow-colored solids and layered them to create a ground and horizon line.  I placed a couple of tiny shamrocks, cut from A Child's Year at 1/2".  I popped the leprechaun up with 1/8" pop dots to lift him off the surface a bit.

Lastly, for a tag, I cut a last shamrock, also from A Child's Year, at 3-1/4", and tied it on with 1/8" ribbon.

Lately, I have taken a little inventory of my Cricut cartridges and, as you have also probably figured out, there are many repeating icons among them!  I used to 'need' all the cartridges and came pretty close to getting them all before last autumn.  The good thing about this economy, hopefully there is a silver lining, is that many of us have gotten a chance to re-prioritize and to be more creative!  So... if you don't have the cartridges listed above, you can find shamrocks on the following cartridges that you may have:

• Create-A-Critter 2
• Designer's Calendar
• Elmo and Friends Holiday
• Give A Hoot
• Imagine More Cards
• Celebrate with a Flourish
• Paper Doll Dress Up
• Phrases 
• Spring Fever
• Holiday Cards

You can find leprechauns on the following cartridges that you may have:

• CCR Exclusive:  St. Patrick's Day
• Teddy Bear Parade
• Paper Doll Dress Up

A cupcake image can be found on dozens of cartridges.  This is just a sampling:

• A Child's Year
• American Alphabet
• Best Images of 2006 and 2009
• Birthday Bash
• Create-A-Critter 1 and 2
• Storks Delivery
• Divine Wedding
• Doodlecharms
• Elmo's Party
• Every Day Paper Dolls
• Hello Kitty Greetings... and the list goes on and on!!!!

Numbers can be found on any cartridge with font of course.

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To see many of my other paper projects, check out My Project Gallery (click here).

To see my previous St. Patrick's Day projects, click here.