How to Make A Paper Bag Vest

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By wirelessjen
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Unfinished Vest

So your child has come home with a brown paper bag and you are now required to make it into a vest. This time our bag was supposed to represent a favorite book. I will tell you how to transform a simple paper bag into a cute vest.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

large paper bag
scissors
acrylic paint
paint brushes
sponge paint brush
decorations for the vest
glue

Step 1

Open the bag slightly and then take your scissors and cut a line through the middle of the paper bag. This will be the front of your vest.
Step 2

Now cut a hole in the bottom of the bag. This hole will be where your child's head goes. The older your child, the bigger hole you'll need.
Step 3

It's time to cut holes in the sides of the bag for your child's arms to come through. You should try and leave an inch at the top of the bag. I cut a hole and then had my daughter try it on. I wanted to make sure that she had enough room for her arm to move up and down without tearing the bag. Once you've perfected one side, then move on to the other side and copy it.
Step 4

After your child tries the vest on again, you can determine how much of a V shape you need to cut in the front of the vest so the paper bag doesn't irritate their neck.
Step 5

The shaping of your vest is now complete. It's now time to start painting it. Choose whatever color you want your vest to be. I used acrylic paint because I figured spray paint would leave behind too much odor.
Step 6

Take a sponge paint brush and your acrylic paint and paint the vest. If the paper bag had a design printed on it you will need to coat the vest with more than one layer of paint. I only painted the front, back, and top of the vest. I let the design on the bag still show underneath the arms.
Step 7

After you've applied a second coat if needed, let your vest dry overnight to make sure the decorations you put on it will stick.
Step 8

The book that my daughter chose was Maximum Ride. So we found some pictures off of google images of the different characters in the book. We printed them off and glued them to the vest. Then we painted the title of the book down the front of the vest.

Comments

sherylrh said

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on 11/15/2009 We use this vest idea during Native American Week in Kindergarten. One thing we do differently is that we turn the bag inside out after it has been cut. Then you don't have to deal with the store ads! Our kids then use markers or paint to decorate the vest with Indian symbols. Great fun!