Bag It

It's that time of year.

Time for school to start.

Some parents are anxious for the scheduled life to begin again. Other parents are saddened at the thought of not spending their days with their children.

I am one of both feelings.

I LOVE having my children home with me. I LOVE not having a schedule to dictate our days. But I also love the feeling that comes with a brand new school year. New clothes. New markers. New crayons. Everything is fresh. It's a brand new start. (Maybe that's why I was a teacher.)

It's also a time that encourages me to be more organized. And I LOVE organization!

With my love of organization comes my love for bags, baskets, and rubbermaid bins. They just make me happy.

So today's organization idea is with bags.

I bought some canvas tote bags at JoAnn's. They come in many sizes and colors and are inexpensive. .

My Meggie keeps her piano books in her bag. The tote bag is the perfect size for them. Easy in. Easy out when we go to piano lessons.

It's also the perfect size for dance shoes. It's nice to keep the tap shoes or ballet shoes in the bag. When it's time to go to class, all you have to do is grab the bag. No need to run around the house looking for that one shoe that you know you saw.

BUT, the canvas tote bags are a little boring. So we spiced ours up.

It started with these materials:

* A tote bag

* Coordinating ribbon

* Coordinating material

* Wonder Under

* Letters printed out using Word

* Iron, Sewing Machine, Thread, pencil, scissors

All you need are very basic sewing skills. There was stitching on the bag. I lined my ribbon along that stitching line. Sew close to the edge. Once you are close to completing the ribbon around the tote, I cut a little extra ribbon. I folded it and tucked it under. Then I finished sewing. Then do the same thing to the bottom of the ribbon.

Then next part is the embellishing. I chose to put the first initial of my girls' names on the corner of the bag. I used my Wonder Under using the method from this post.

I decided to tie a little ribbon to the handle of Meggie's bag. I used a flame to seal the ends of the ribbon.

It only took a few minutes (max 10) to turn this boring tote into something my girls love.

I'm linking up to these parties: