A Day of Wonders: Yippee Skippy, I'm back!!

Geez.......does anybody even say "Yippee Skippy" anymore? I don't know why those words just appeared on my title, but that's what my fingers typed. So what the heck? Anyway........Yay! As of about an hour ago our internet service is up and running again. I haven't had it at home since February 6th, and I've been totally bummed out about it. I don't have computer or internet access at work, so I've been in serious withdrawal. I haven't even checked my Google Reader yet; I'm sure there are about 2,000 posts waiting for me to read. I couldn't wait to check back in here and tell you what I've been up to while I didn't have my little internet/blog addiction consuming all my time. Actually, I've been quite productive. My older son's school is having a fundraiser later this month with a silent auction. I made 4 items for the auction which I'll share with you here.

The first item I made was a Capri Sun juice pouch beach bag. I used a total of 52 pouches. It is really big. I filled it with a beach towel, bottled water and flavored mix-ins, fruit snacks, a little Capri Sun snack sack, and flower leis for a "Beach Party in a Bag." Would you believe I forgot to take a photo of it before I sent it to school with my son and husband? Well, I did forget. However, here is a photo of one I made last summer for a friend. The one I did for the auction is pretty much the same without the fringe. Actually, the one I made for the auction is cooler, in my opinion. Instead of using all "silver" pouches, I made stripes with the same colors of pouches. I had a stripe of red pouches on top, then silver in the middle, then purple on the bottom on the front and back panels. For the side panels, I used yellow apple juice pouches. And I used a combination of all the colors for the handles. Oh......I wish I had taken a photo of it.

The next thing I made was a bucket of beanbags. I bought a red pail from Hobby Lobby and filled it with 10 beanbags that I sewed using printed fabrics on the front and felt squares on the back. I added a laminated card to the handle with a few ideas for activities to do with beanbags.

Close-up of the laminated card.

Close-up of the beanbags. I used fabric from the Moda Recess line. I had bought a package of charm squares of this group of prints a while back, so I didn't even have to cut the pieces. I just used them as a pattern for cutting the felt backing squares.

The next thing I made was a set of 10 drink coasters using chalkcloth and felt. I packaged them in a fun little box I found at.........Hobby Lobby. Below you can see the cute little box. I used the colors in the box to inspire the colors of felt I used for the coasters. It looks very summery and fun.

Below you can see the coasters and the little drawstring bag I added which is filled with colored chalk. If you are not familiar with chalkcloth, it can be found on a big roll in the upholstery section of most fabric stores and purchased by the yard. You can write on it with chalk and wipe it off again using a damp cloth. It is awesome! The coasters can be doodled on or labeled with the names of the guests and reused over and over. Very cool!

Here you can see the coasters a little closer-up. I just used a straight stitch to sew them onto a square of felt. Originally the two pieces were the exact same size. Then after sewing, I used pinking shears to trim the chalkcloth so the colored backing square would show.

My final project was an "Art on the Go" tote. I used a denim bag I found at Hobby Lobby and added a colorful pocket on the front as you can see below. I found a little green journal at the Dollar Spot in Target and slipped that into the pocket.

Inside the tote I put a handsewn crayon roll (tied with the polka dot ribbon in the photo) filled with new crayons, 5 little handmade drawing booklets made from blank printer paper and scrapbook paper, and a handsewn zipper pouch filled with Crayola twistable colored pencils.