Mini Painted Bag & Bike Bag

We pulled out the bikes last night and went on our first family bike ride of the season.  I love riding my bike.  I'll admit I drag my feet about going because I like to be at home but once I'm on it, I remember why I love it so much.  One little hiccup I always have though, is where to put my keys and cell phone.  Do you have that problem too?  It's just not comfortable having them in my pocket while I ride.

In fact, bike riding aside, in the summer it seems I always have that problem.  I don't like carrying a big purse, especially in the summer.  They are too big.  Too bulky.  Too hot.   So, in the summer I always pair down and just carry the basics - wallet, keys, cell phone.  And, when I'm feeling fancy, lip gloss.  hahaha

So, today I happily solved my problem.

I did these little bags start to finish in about 30 minutes.  Probably less. 

Here's what I did...

You will need a small canvas zipper bag, paint, painters tape and a paint brush.  And, for additional optional steps you'll need stamps and a sewing machine.

** Please Note:  I didn't use fabric paint.  I just used regular craft paint, however, if you plan to wash these, fabric paint would be a better choice.

I picked up my bag at Hobby Lobby for about $3.  You can get them for even cheaper if you print out a 40% off coupon.  Bargain!!!  They come in two different sizes, I went for the smaller size.

Step 1:  Take strips of painters tape and tape them evenly on the front of the bag.

Step 2:  Wrap the excess tape around the sides and onto the back.

Step 3:  Then, take more tape and connect the end pieces so you have completed lines on the back, like shown above.

Step 4: Next, take a DRY paint brush - it needs to be dry, don't get it wet first - and paint in between the taped lines.  Be careful not to push the paint under the tape.

Step 5:  When the paint dries, or is mostly dry, carefully remove the tape.  

You can pretty much do any design you want.  I liked the simplicity of the stripes but I also did a checker board pattern as well.  My daughter wants to do a chevron design on hers, so really, anything goes.

FYI:  You can also use stamps on these too - I just painted a stamp with green paint to get the image on the bag above.  

Technically you could stop there and be done.  You'd have a small little bag to hold just the basics.  However, if you plan to use it on a bike you'll want to keep reading.

To turn it into something I could hook onto my bike I simply added a canvas strip and a strong holding magnet clasp.  Here's how...

Step 6:  Take fabric, ribbon, or anything you think will work, and make a strip.  I doubled over a piece of canvas-like ribbon for mine.  Then, I centered it on the bag and sewed it in place just above the zipper.

Step 7:  Next, turn the bag over and attach your magnets in place.  The best way to do this is to follow the directions on the package.  I put my top one so that the back part, the part with the prongs, is sandwiched between the two layers of canvas ribbon.  Then I sewed the end of the ribbon closed.  For the bottom magnet, I folded the prongs into the inside of the bag.  

From the picture above you can see that when the magnet is closed up, the strip of fabric/ribbon makes a little loop like shown above. This loop and magnet is what will  hold your bag to your bike

Step 8:  Now the only thing to do is attach it to your bike, fill it with your treasures, and head off for a ride.

FYI:  The little green bike on the strap is actually a little stamp I painted and used - so cute.  I'm kind of in love with that little stamp.

Anyway, Enjoy!

Trendy? Trending? Trends? Giraffe!

So, sometimes do certain words just feel weird coming out of your mouth?  Every once in a while that will happen to me.  Like the word:  Trend.  I'm not sure why, but I find it strange and it seems to be popping up everywhere lately.  Characters on the shows I've been watching lately are using that word in their scripts.  I've heard it say, "it's trending world wide."  What?  Trending?  What is "trending"?

As for myself, I've never really thought of myself as trendy.  In fact, I'm not.  I usually steer clear of trends.  I'm quirky, not trendy.  Plus, I fear trends a little because they go out of style fast.  I usually play it safe, stick with the classics, and live happily ever after.  That was until I got my Mother's day gift.

Remember my box?  My box of pure happiness?  I mentioned it before but I failed to tell you what was in it.

Trendy happiness was in it.  

I actually did a happy dance after the UPS man left the package at my door and I was absolutely giddy opening it up.  Can you see it in there?  It's hiding under the paper.

I mean - come on - wouldn't you be if you knew this was yours?

I hugged it.  My family thought I was weird.  They were right.

Yes, I'm going against everything I thought I was and I'm now following a trend.  I own an animal head.  Boy! That feels good to get that out.  

So, why was I so happy about this?  Well, it all started summer of 2011 I went on a trip and visited family in Utah.  While there I roamed through the local Anthropologie store - sadly we don't have one in Fort Collins.  Hanging on the wall was this giraffe and I was completely smitten.  I almost bought it on a whim but resisted.  However, I've been thinking about this thing ever since.  I pinned it.  I'd stalk it on the Anthropologie website and I'd talk about it.  The mister, being the awesome man that he is, decided to buy it for me.  I'm not sure if he did it out of niceness or just to get me to shut up.  Maybe both.  Regardless of the reason, it was a well received Mother's day gift.  

Since receiving it, I've been seeing animal heads "trending" - see there's that word - everywhere.  If you want to be trendy too you should check these out...

Savannah Story - Anthropologie - this is where mine came from.  I think the Rhino is pretty awesome too.

West Elm Animal Sculptures - These were trending over at Eighteen25 this week.  Check out the hippo.

And, last but not least - I'm SO totally love with this.  Over at Little Blue Boo there's and AMAZING tutorial on how to make your very own animal head.  My daughter has a joke thing going on with one of her friends about Unicorns and I tell you what, this just might be on our summer to-do list.  It's just that awesome!

Unicorn Animal Head Tutorial - by Little Blue Boo

Smiles,

Amy

May Nativity Piece

Remember our April Nativity piece tutorial?  It was a little white lamb.  It was pretty cute but it needs a companion.  So, for May, we are just making another little lamb.   Our Nativity set will be 12 pieces when it is all done and two of those pieces are sheep.

You've got some options here.  You can make them both white, using the pearl clay like shown above.

Or you could mix it up a bit and add a little black sheep - ok, he's really gray, but you get the point.  Right?!

And, if you are feeling the drive to take it further, you can do more than just two.

The End!

If you don't remember how to make these little sheep be sure to check out the tutorial here:  Lamb Nativity Piece.

And, thanks so much for the great response I got about my Deal of the Day post - I still have necklaces available if you are interested in getting one.  

Smiles!

Amy

Deal of The Day!

Last week I helped some awesome young women from my church make necklaces for their moms.   We had planned on having 12+ girls but as it turned out only 3 showed.  So, since I had a ton of supplies left over I went a little overboard in playing around.  I made all these below and several more that aren't shown.

The problem though, I don't need 15+ blue pendant necklaces.  

I even made some of these - cute right?  If you are familiar with President Uchtdorf, you may recall his awesome talk about the Forget-Me-Not flower.  A lot of these pendants remind me of that talk, especially the one above.  In fact, I gave a few of my pendant necklaces away as gifts to some of my friends along with a quote from his talk.  It made a nice "thinking of you" gift. 

Anyway, my point....

I've posted all of these latest creations in my ETSY shop and I've posted them for a steal of deal.  Normally I price them at $16-$18 but I'd like to move these fast so they are only.....

$11.95 

Some of the designs are similar but no two are alike so there are lots of options.  I've even listed some  rectangle ones too.   They all come on a 20" silver chain and are packaged in a cute little gift box.  Please check them out and help me get them off of my kitchen table (my husband would be most thankful) 

Smiles!

Amy

An American Quilt

Have you seen that movie?  It's pretty old, from the 90's.  It's been on my mind this morning.  The gist of the movie, at least as I remember it, is a young and confused 20's something girl finds herself after she spends a summer with strong women who are making a quilt.  Life stories are told, lessons are learned, and in the end the quilt is finished and you realize just how much connection there is between all these amazing women and the events that make up their lives.  The quilt, which ends up being a story of their lives, is truly made of love.

It kind of sums up what I'm feeling today.  I have a quilt like that.

This quilt was made by several women over the course of many, many years.  My Great grandmother and my grandma, Nana, were strong, capable women who were resourceful and wise.  

These two women, and sometimes my mom, used to make a lot of their own clothes.  My Nana used to always make pajamas for her four daughters and sometimes for my older siblings.  And, without fail, polka dots were almost always the fabric design of choice.  All three of these women loved polka dots!

Because these women were resourceful, they'd save their fabric scraps.  My mom took those scraps and started making this puppy dog quilt.  She hand cut and then hand sewed all those dogs and bows onto each square and then pieced the squares together to make the top of the quilt.  That is as far as she got.  She died at a young age of 43 and never was able to finish it.

The quilt top was passed to me which, being only 9 when she died, I had no clue of it's importance or what to do with it so I kept it in my toy chest which I had converted into a hope chest for that "someday".

Years later, when I was 19 and about to get married - yes, I married young - my stepmom, another strong and capable woman, took that quilt top and finished the quilt for me.  She picked out the back fabric, it's green polka dots, did all the quilting and then paid to have it bound.

This quilt is one of my greatest possessions. It has the love of my great-grandma, my grandma, my mom and my stepmom in it.

I've realized that we don't craft like that anymore.  At least I don't, my creations, while cute and clever, they aren't long term works of the heart.  They are disposable.  for the most part I'm ok with that but I've realized I want to pass on a few things to my girls that sum up who I am.

Maybe I should make a quilt!