Roadtrip Project #4 - Photo I Spy Bag

One of my very first Etsy purchases was an I Spy bag for Elle when she was a toddler. I'm sure you've seen these all over the handmade world... but have you ever seen one with photos?!

I love this idea for so many reasons! It's a lot of fun to watch everyone's reaction as faces, including their own, pop up through the window. It's also a great way to introduce your little one to family and friends that they don't get to see on a regular basis. And maybe my favorite; is that this little bag is like a tiny time capsule of everyone who is part of our family and what they look like at this precise moment in time!

Here’s how you can make one for your cutie!


You’ll need:
two 9” squares of fleece
one 5” square of clear vinyl
polly pellets (I got these at JoAnns)
photos
Laminate (I had a copy center do the lamination)

Make the bag by sewing the clear vinyl square onto the back center of one of the squares of fleece. Sewing over vinyl can be sticky; I put a piece of tissue paper under the foot. Cut the fleece away from the center of the vinyl. I cut it into an “X” and then used pinking shears to trim close to the stitches. Sew the fleece squares to each other right sides together, leave an opening to turn through.

Make the photos by stealing your friends and family’s photos off of FaceBook. In Picasa, crop the photos down to just be their faces. Using the grid option, create a collage out of all the pictures. Adjust the size of the photos by using the grid spacing slider bar. I wanted my photos to be double sided, so I printed two copies of the collage. Cut out each photo and adhere it to the matching photo back-to-back. Laminate the photos.

Finish the bag by turning it right side out, filling it half full with poly pellets, and tossing in the laminated photos. Sew the opening shut.


I’m looking forward to seeing Liv’s face as she discovers Mommy, Daddy, & Sissy in her I spy bag. Hopefully on the trip home she’ll recognize more of the family that she doesn’t get to see as often.

Growing Up Crafty

I don’t think I would describe my Mom as artistic. She can’t draw a lick, isn’t at all mechanically inclined, and doesn’t particularly enjoy tedious processes. She likes to say she’s a good “copier” as in she can see an idea in a magazine and recreate it. But I think it’s more than that. I didn’t realize until I was older that not everyone’s homes are as inviting and comfortable as ours always were. She has a great sense of color and design and she used it to make our home a pleasant space to live our lives in. I didn’t really grow up around a sewing machine, but my Mom did dust it off to make us matching red taffeta Christmas dresses one year, and always handcrafted our Halloween costumes. She must’ve done a good job at it because they made the rounds between all three of us kids, a few cousins, and are still packed away for the grandchildren’s play time. My Mom is left handed, so it made teaching me to crochet a little more difficult than it needed to be, but she was patient with me and I have the blankets to prove it. Some of my favorite Mom-and-me time was spent perusing craft shows nearly every weekend in the holiday months and our Sunday trips to the local craft store. Although she doesn’t keep up with it now (we’re back to that tedious bit) she introduced me to scrapbooking, so I have her to thank for inspiring the 13 albums I've crafted which are among my most treasured possessions.

My Dad has more tangible artistic abilities. He worked a night shift when I was very young and would wake me up some nights when he got home to show me an elaborate pencil drawing he had just done to help explain/teach me about whatever he thought I’d find interesting. I was completely amazed when he illustrated the lenses of the human eye and how we actually view objects upside down. He’s very mechanically inclined and used that talent to fix anything around the house that was broken, but also to figure out unique ways to create images with a camera, like the time we went outside at night and set up the tripod to take a picture of me as he moved a flashlight around me. The effect made it look like I was glowing… like a ghost. For a good part of my childhood, my Dad had a passion for woodworking which he came by through his own father. I still remember the crispness in the air as I stood in my grandfather’s or our own garage watching my Dad turn raw wood into furniture, toys, tools or pretty much whatever anyone could dream up to add to his list… and it was a long list!

I’m so thankful that my parents nurtured my creative side! The process of making and the resulting creations are so fulfilling for me that it’s become a part of my daily life. I hope that my own child will be familiar with the sense of accomplishment I feel from creating something out of nothing, but more than that I hope to instill in her, what my parents fostered in me; a deep appreciation for all things handmade.