DIY: Travel tote for your favorite artist

 

My daughters love to draw and they love bags to carry their stuff in.  This project combines their two favorite things- art and a pretty tote.   More than that, it helps me out for them to have a bag of  "favorites" when we go out to dinner or even on a grocery store trip.  It buys me something that money can't...time.  So here we go...



You will need:

• a small bag with tiny stitched pockets- I bought this one at Hobby Lobby for $2.99
• a variety of ribbons in different colors and patterns
• a pack of yellow buttons
• a pair of scissors
• tacky glue
• a needle and thread

1. Cut your green ribbon in different lengths and space them where you would like the flowers to be. 

 2. There are several different ways to make ribbon flowers.  The first way is to make a figure eight out of the ribbon, rotate the ribbon and make another figure eight until you have ...

 ...five petals uniform in size.

 Sew the petals together in the center so the design will not shift.

 Another way you can make a ribbon flower is by cutting six 2" pieces of ribbon.

 Arrange the ribbons in a star pattern...

 ...and sew them together so they pieces do not shift.

 Go back and trim the pieces of ribbon in a "v" shape.

The third way to make a ribbon flower is by making a small loop of ribbon and then twisting it as you make another loop.  When you have three twisted loops, tack them together and you have a flower that looks like a bud.






3. Next, make a few leaves by making a small loop of the green ribbon and then tacking it at the ends.  I made three leaves for my bag.

 4. Place the flowers on the stems and make sure the flowers do not overlap.  This is one of the reasons you do not want to glue down your stems until you have made all of the flowers and made sure the spacing is right.

 Once you know everything looks the way you want it to, then you can start gluing things down.

5. Glue down your stems with the tacky glue

6. Sew the buttons onto the flowers and then place them onto the stems and sew them onto the bag.  

 7. Once your stems are glued down, the flowers are sewn on, then tuck your leaves under the stems where you want them and glue them down. 

8.  The last thing for you to do is let your kids stuff their bags full of their favorite art supplies.  

Enjoy!  We already have an argument brewing about who gets this bag even though I am planning on making another one tomorrow.  Girls...  : )