The post DIY Foil Quill Gift Bags and Art is sponsored by JOANN. Thank you so much for supporting the brands that keep the crafts coming!

Have you all heard of the Foil Quill by We R Memory Keepers available at JOANN? If you are at all interested in the newest craft supplies, then you may have heard a whisper of two about it. It is essentially a quill with a heated pen point tip that attaches via USB and fits in any vinyl cutting machine. It works with heat activated foil to transfer fine line drawings and text onto paper, vinyl, stickers, and even leather. If the material is thin enough to fit in your vinyl cutter, then you can use the foil quill on it!

The Projects

I was lucky enough to get to try out the Foil Quill before it was released and I am going to share a few simple projects I made with it. My favorite creation was a foiled gift bag! I used gradient printed paper and foiled on “Happy Birthday” along with a few stars using the foil quill. Then I folded the paper into a gift bag. It is a super fun way to make either custom gift bags for a party to to customize the wrapping for a gift.

See how cute?! And While it is hard to photography, that is silver foil on the bag! Doesn’t this look like the perfect gift bag to take to a unicorn party?

I also made a few foiled art prints. But because the print is so busy, it was a little more difficult to photograph them, but they look super cute in person.

One thing I discovered with the foil quill is that it is best used on solid paper or darker prints to really maximize the foil look. Since this is in fact more of a foil pen, it makes three different width lines depending on which sized quill you use, but it doesn’t make a full foil effect. So be sure to keep that in mind when designing your print. If you want it to have a fuller look, you will want to add in more interior lines within the drawing to give it a more full foil print effect.

But let’s move on to how to actually use the quill shall we?!

Materials for DIY Foil Quill Gift Bags and Art :

• Foil quill (whichever size you want to use – I used the bold tip)
• Heat activated foil
• Paper (any paper works, you can even download the gradient paper I used for the gift bag here)
• Vinyl cutting machine (the Foil Quill is compatible with Cricut, Brother, Silhouette, and Sizzix)

Instructions

Begin by plugging the USB end of the quill into your cutting machine USB port. I used my Cricut maker, so I didn’t need to use an adapter with my quill, but if you are using a different machine, you will need to use the correct adapter that comes in the Foil Quill All in One kit. Then attach the quill into the blade port of your machine.

While you let the quill heat up, prepare your paper by using washi tape to secure a piece of foil over the paper where you want the foil quill to work it’s magic. After the quill has heated up for 5 minutes (it heats using the power through the USB port), it is time to get your foil on!

To do this, simply load your design into the cutting program for your specific vinyl cutting machine and select the regular adhesive vinyl cut setting.

Next, send your design to the vinyl cutter and because you have the foil quill in the place of the blade, your machine will draw your design with the heated quill over the foil instead of cutting.

Once your design is drawn out, unload your cutting mat and slowly remove the washi tape and the foil to reveal your design.

It’s so simple!

So for art or a greeting card, once you have transfered your foiled design, you are done. But if you want to make a gift bag out of your paper, then follow along below.

How to fold a gift bag from paper

Begin by folding the ends of your paper in to meet in the middle and tape along the seam.

Next, fold the bottom up 1-2 inches.

Now fold the corners in to meet the fold line.

Next, open the folds and press in the corners to form triangles on each side.

Now fold the long sides to meet in the center and tape.

Once you have this step done, open up the gift bag and press out the bottom to make the gift bag take shape. For my gift bag I scallop cut the top edge to give it a little extra somethin’, somethin’.

Then I simply folded over the top edge and used a bit of ribbon to give the gift bag a little flair!

The Results

As you can see there are so many possibilities for adding foil to all the things with the new Foil Quill by We R Memory Keepers at JOANN. I can’t wait to try making my own foil vinyl labels and stickers next! What do you want to foil?