Tea Bag Sleeve

I was helping plan my future sister-in-law's bridal shower with my mother-in-law. We went with a floral tea party theme. I wanted to work on the thank you gifts for the guests. I love the idea of giving the guests a little something to take home. Each thank you gift bag had a few items in them, but this post is all about the super cute tea bag sleeves!

I went to David’s Tea and got Earl Grey tea bags and they don’t come individually sleeved. That gave me the idea to make or print them. I didn’t like what was on Pinterest. They didn’t match the theme or colours and I couldn't easily change them. So off to the drawing board it was for me. I really enjoy making the templates I need from the ground up. It honestly gives me a real sense of accomplishment! It took a few tries to get the shape I liked and size that wasn’t super massive. 

I made the template from shapes you can easily find in Design Space. I used 2 different sized rectangles, a gift tag that had a design shape I liked and the score lines. You could use a semi circle. If you just want a rounded flap. 

Materials:

• Cardstock or paper - colored, designed or Patterned
• Two sided tape - or any adhesive you like
• Cricut
• Green standard Cricut mat
• Scoring wheel (Cricut maker) - If you are using the Cricut Maker
• Bonefolder

Shapes for template

• 1 long rectangle
• 1 short rectangle
• 4 score lines
• Gift tag or shape you want to use for flap

How to make the template:

1. Make two different sized rectangles (from shapes). Make sure one is longer than the other. The longer will be the vertical piece. Short one will be horizontal. Example shown in the picture (the rounded flap is a separate piece will be explained further down).
2. Once you have the sizes you are happy with, take the shorter one and place it over top of the larger one (leave a little room at the top to attach the flap). Make sure the shorter one juts out a little to make the flaps. When you're happy with the placement click weld them to make it one piece.
3. For the rounded flap of the sleeve I found a shape (you could use a semi circle or even a full circle) I like and put over the little bit of room at the top you left. When you have where you want weld them together. 
4. Go back to shapes and choose the score line and make score lines where you would fold the pieces. You should have 4 score lines.
5. Once they are in place, highlight all the pieces and attach your score lines. If you aren’t sure, look at the example for the dotted lines.
6. I go to "Make it" once to make sure everything is good. If something isn’t attached or welded properly it will show you when you go get the prep screen. 
7. Now that everything is welded and attached together you have your template!

I cut one just to make sure it was the proper size or if any adjustments were needed. Not all tea bags are the same. You can adjust the size with the arrows if needed. You don’t have to do this part.

Cutting and amount:

1. Depending on how many sleeves you need you can now duplicate it. For example I needed 11 so I duplicated it 10 times. Right click and hit "duplicate" (you can also hit duplicate at the top or copy and paste) 
2. Put the cardstock (what I used) or paper choice on your mat(s).
3. Insert either scoring stylus or scoring wheel (Cricut Maker only) and make sure you have set your material to cardstock or paper depending on what you are using.
4. Send the project to cut and follow the prompts.

Assembly:

1. Fold the sleeves along the score lines. You could use a bone folder if you like.
2. Once the tabs are folded, take your adhesive and put it on the tabs.
3. Now take the bottom flap and fold it up and attach it to the tabs.
4. Take your tea bag and slide it into the opening of the sleeve
5. Once the tea bag is in the sleeve fold the top flap down and seal. I used thank you stickers but you could use anything you like!

This is a great way to use up pieces of cardstock that you aren’t sure what to do with. I have an entire 12 by 12 scrapbooking paper case full of scrap paper I want to find uses for. A few times I was able to use some of it to make these. 

You can also use these for other items other than tea bags. You could also use them for seeds, small jewelry or cash as a gift. 

If you have any questions or comments pop it in the box below!