trick or treat bag

I've been going a little crazy with Halloween this year. Ok, who am I kidding? No I haven't, I just love any excuse to be crafty and make my little one fun things. Like this...a trick or treat bag.

When I was young my mother (who was a seamstress) made me a trick or treat bag. It had a witch on the front and her legs hung from the bottom of the bag. I used it every year for my trick or treating candy loot, and I loved carrying it. 

So, I thought Ella would want one of her own. Low and behold I dreamed up my version of a trick or treat bag for her. One side has ruffles and green ric rac (a halloween spin off my Ruffle Carryall Totes from the shop) and the other has her initial "E" appliqued along with yoyo flowers, fabric rosettes, a mini bow and some fun ribbon loops. 

I think it turned out darling and I hope she gets years and years of use out of it!

{Ella's 1st birthday!-pinata candy bags}

We're having a few older kids to Ella's birthday next weekend so we decided that a pinata was a must at the big 1st birthday celebration. Instead of just giving the kiddos plain bags to scoop up their candy in I whipped up a quick label (in Photoshop) with a ladybug to keep with the theme. Then I printed them on sticker paper, cut and then stuck them on plain brown paper lunch sacks. It was extremely easy and quick to do. I think that its personal touches that really make a party fun, and total cost for 24 bags (minus the sticker paper and printer ink, which I already had) was only $1.00!

{Sunny Yellow Birthday Wishes}

I've been sewing lately. With all the babies coming this fall, and summer birthdays I've been busy. This bag is for one of my best friends, (I'll keep it anonymous in case she's reading). The pattern is the Amy Butler Birdie Sling, a simple to make bag that has enough room to keep all your summer items close. Really, this thing could fit a towel, sunscreen, several magazines, and a change of clothes, it's that big. And I love it. The first time I made this bag...well, you can read about that adventure for yourself. Inside the bag are a few goodies, a pair of cloth baby shoes, and a bib. Just for fun. Hm...hope that doesn't give it away.

{A Headache of A Project}

So, I started on the Amy Butler Birdie Sling pattern two days ago. I made a trip down to Beverly's Fabrics  to pick up some Amy Butler fabric (they were one of the only one's who carried the line, plus they take competitor's coupons-BONUS!) and while there asked one of their salespeople for a recommendation on fusible interfacing. This is where all went wrong. 

She led me to some interfacing which she said "would be great for the project". I took her up on her advice and bought the stuff-even though my intuition told me, uh...i'm not so sure about this.... 

Well...to cut a long story short...my Birdie Sling turned out beautiully-except that it was crinkly like a plastic bag. Litterly. The interfacing she told me to get was so stiff and paper-like that my bag made crunching noises at every touch. My husband even said-"Um...I could hear you coming with that thing, it's definitely not right". It was obvious the sales lady DID NOT sell me woven interfacing, and my beautiful (not to mention expensive-nearly $40) project was a bust. 

So...this is where the redemption happens. I called up Beverly's and talked to the manager. Telling her that the recommendation the sales women gave me was severely wrong, thus ruining my project. She told me to come in with the bag and she'd take care of it. So...I drove down to Beverly's, very disappointed I'd have to take another 6 hours to make a new bag. 

Well, now I'm a Beverly's fan for life. Not only did the manager give me all new fabric, interfacing and supplies to make a new bag, she gave me my money back as well!! Discouraged at the idea of having to make an all new bag, I tore open a seam and ripped all the paper out I could, barely salvaging the thing. It's no where near what the right one would have been (not to mention I had to cut two huge holes inside the handle) but at least its not crunching when I put it over my shoulder. (You can see in the photo how crinkly the handle looks. That was pre-paper rip out.)

On the other side of it- this bag is just too cute. I want to make a ton of them in all colors for summer. The bag is just the right size for me-HUGE. I love big bags that fit everything you could every want. Perfect for summertime. Perfect for springtime. Perfect, perfect, perfect. 

{Busy Bee}

I've been MIA since Valentines Day, almost a full month! My apologies. But i've been busy sewing and crafting away. More specifically, starting my spring veggie garden, tending to my tulip bed, paper cutting (three designs done!), building my little craft/sewing area (in pink and brown), sewing baby cloth shoes, dolls, and working on this little beauty as of this morning. Hopefully it'll be finished by tonight. Have fun looking at the Flikr group for this project, i'll post pics of mine when I finish it.