The end of the school year can be a very stressful time for sentimental procrastinators. Oh, you don’t know what a sentimental procrastinator is? That’s probably because I just made it up. A sentimental procrastinator is someone who saves everything—pictures, receipts, candy wrappers—with the intention of making something to commemorate a good day but procrastinates too much to actually do something with said things. The procrastination part can be extra stressful when late April/early May hits and you want to give your friends a gift to honor a year well spent but time is running out on the semester. However, where there is a problem there is a solution: Today I’m going to show you how to make paper bag memory books that take just a few minutes to assemble. You can gift them to friends who are going away or staying around, or craft one for yourself.

What you’ll need:

• Lunch-sized paper bags
• Something to write with (I used a black pen.)
• Ticket stubs, snapshots, and other memorabilia you’ve been saving
• Decorations like stickers, magazine clippings, glitter, et cetera
• Glue

How to do it:

Step One

Grab a paper bag, keeping in mind that each bag will give you a front cover, a back cover, and two pages. Fold the bag in half.

Step Two

Decorate the cover of the now-folded bag.

Step Three

Now decorate the rest of the bag however you want! I stuck with a theme of flowers and stars. You can fill the pages with quotes, memories, and playlists. Your bag also will have small “pockets” that double as great hiding places for treats and trinkets. Feel free to hide little notes, gifts, or hidden messages. Take advantage of the nooks and crannies and let your creativity shine!

Who knew “clutter” could be so cute? ♦