#6. Make Homemade Gifts for a Year

For this goal, I defined it by saying I will make a homemade gift for each member of our immediate family at least once during the year, either for birthdays or Christmas.  Yesterday was my cute sister-in-law's birthday.  I decided to make her this little coin purse/mini wallet.

 I had a lot of fun with this little project and will probably make more.  I especially liked picking coordinating fabrics and am in love with the ones I ended up picking.   

The finished product measured about 3.25 x 5 inches.  I put wallet sized photos of her adorable niece inside. 

I think it would also make a great gift card holder.  It's perfect for IDs, credit cards, coins, feminine products, etc.  It was such an fun and easy project and I am so pleased with how it turned out.

Place Mat Handbags

My mom introduced me to the idea of making cute and simple handbags/purses/scripture bags out of place mats. Genius! I have made several as gifts and one for myself that I use as my scripture bag. They end up being a perfect size to fit the normal size of scriptures in, plus a little room for your keys, chapstick, and the Relief Society manual. They are super easy to make, essentially 4 seams with a sewing machine and then you attach the handles (can be done in a variety of ways). Some of them turn out to be pretty dang cute, I must say. I like to find cute place mats at Cost Plus, Pier 1, and Target. I usually just buy one at a time, or I will get one of several varieties that do not match at all. I'm sure the store clerks think I am silly.

Here is one I made for my dear friend, Anna. It was one of the first ones I made, and I have learned of better techniques to attach the handles. Sorry, Anna! The handles on this one slide around pretty easily. But I still thought it turned out great. These photos show the front and back of the bag.



You can definitely get creative with these. Like I said before, I have come up with different ways to attach the handles. I also did one where I took a plain red place mat and sewed a black ribbon about 1 inch below the top edge of the purse and then stitched on a black bow. The possibilities are endless, people!

I will post more pictures in the future of other handbags I have made this way.