Posted byThese cotton muslin drawstring bags are a classy way to present your wedding-day favors. Stamp them with your own design and you can fill them with pretty much anything — the possibilities are endless! I personally have made swag bags to help promote my band. I wanted to give earplugs out at our shows because we are LOUD — and these bags are a super fun way to do so.
What you need:
- Cotton Muslin Drawstring Bags ($18 for 100 bags)
- A stamp (I designed a custom stamp on RubberStamps.net) & ink pad
- Contents for your bags! My bags contain:
- 1-inch pin with my logo
- Custom temporary tattoo of the same logo
- Earplugs
First you need to purchase your cotton muslin drawstring bags. I got mine from CelestialGifts on Etsy, and I purchased the 2.3/4 x 4 size. It costs about $21 for 100 bags, including shipping.
Next you need your stamp. For about $10, I custom ordered mine using my band logo — maybe you want to use your own wedding logo? Or there are great stamps at craft stores and/or teacher supply stores if you want to do something like a bird or a heart or the word “love.”
How to make your own “Yay!” celebratory flags
I made these "Yay" flags for our wedding, intending for people to wave them for us as we walked away after the ceremony. They ended... Read more
Then you just stamp your bags. It really is that easy. Put a piece of cardboard in before you stamp to prevent the ink bleeding through to the back of the bag. But depending on your stamp, you may not even have to do that.
Now fill your bags with cool stuff! My bags contain a a 1″ pin with my logo, a custom temporary tattoo of the same logo, and earplugs!
But there are SO many more things you can do! Julie and Todd (who inspired this project) used a simple Martha Stewart bird stamp and filled their bags with birdseed.
Other ideas include lavender (for tossing during your exit), the game of Jacks, a recipe, wildflower seeds, magnetic poetry, a little photo of you… what ideas do you have?
About the Author: Offbeat Weditors
Working tirelessly to bring you stimulating content day after day, the Offbeat Wed editors will not sleep until you've gotten your offbeat fix.
I’ve seen on here where people are getting personalized dice. We too are thinking of doing that and if you were going to give your guest a few this bag idea would be perfect to hold them.
(Please read this as a loud compliment and not actual jealous anger… Okay, maybe a LITTLE jealous…} Dammit Whitney Lee! Leave some talent for the rest of us suckers! OR as Arlo Guthrie Asked bob Dylan, “Come on {Whitney} we’re fishing downstream, throw some of the small ones back once in a while!”
Oh, your comment makes me SO HAPPY! I’ve been a little down on life lately… thanks for reminding me to look on the bright side! <3
So awesome. Now I need to think of something to put in them for our wedding. Anybody have any suggestions for these in a fall wedding?
I am seeing these used for distribution of salt after a salt ceremony. A way to share your love with everybody!! Of course it would have to be a lot of salt…but still…too cool. I’d use two different colors of salt, like grey and pink, or green and black.
How about a cookie cutter and a recipe? Or spiced cider mix?
Or be green and stick some tulip/lily/other pretty flower bulbs inside the bags. Many bulbs are planted in the fall, so they’ll go home and put them in their gardens and think of you when the flowers bloom next spring!
LOVE this idea! i am having a summer garden wedding. i may look into bulbs that can be planted in the summer.
I love these!
Some idea for fillers: Loose Chai Tea mix, candy, homemade cookies, little candles or soaps, cone incense, mini booze bottles
Oh, these are so cool! I’d put them in a bowl next to the candy bar (because I *need* a candy bar at my wedding) so people can have as much candy as they want at the time *and* build their own bag-of-candy favor. I’d probably need slightly bigger bags for that one, though.
Omg!!! This is exactly what I wanted for the rice toss, but I didn’t know where to find bags!! Thanks!!!
I am totally doing something like this for the goody bags that our out-of-town guests will be getting at the hotel! I ordered 8×10 muslin bags for $30 and had a 3×4 stamp designed that said welcome to Texas for around the same price. Anything I was looking at that was custom printed was going to be around $400. This was a great alternative!
i did something similar to this for winter solstice gifts. Inside the bags were homemade chai goodies; cinnamon, coriander, fennel, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, etc. It turned out really nice and everyone in the family loved them (i think) 🙂
If you’re crafty, you can also make your own rubber stamps… you can buy a lino cutter and rubber blocks at most craft stores, and it’s really fun hobby. (Can you tell that I’m a letterboxer?)
Awesome idea! Instead of a candy bar I’m going to make lolly bags!
I am going to fill the mini-muslin bags with assorted favored green tea bags. i also saw a self inking stamp that says ” love is sweet” that i am interested in stamped on each bag! by the way, i love the flower bulb idea!!
I just love these, and it doesn’t get any easier that this! I went hunting for rubber stamps and the choices are endless.
such an inspiration!! we have decided to go with the seeds idea, as thought it would a lasting gift. (well actually, i say WE but i mean ME, because Steve had no idea what i was talking about, although he does remember the little sugared almonds at wedding when he was a kid!) we have chosen red and green kangaroo paw seeds for everyone…not sure what else i will put in there, but im EXCITED thanks so much for the idea!!
For a steampunk themed wedding, we’re stamping muslin bags with a personalized logo stamp with our names and a zeppelin. Inside the guests will get: a pair of googles, lavender mint glycerine soap in a gear/cog pattern, and a tin with peppermint lip balm. We don’t have a lot of guests, so I went a little nuts. If you’re on a budget, I’d look into the lip balm tins at Bulk Apothacary– you can get them filled and order labels to print yourself. Pretty and easy-peasy.