Recrafted :: Nature Bags

Before I went on vacation I wanted to get a set of Nature Bags for my kids, and Michelle’s kids. Then when I went to order them I realized they were $35 a piece. Multiply that by 4 kids and you spend enough money to send Steve into convulsions. They are seriously cool, everything is organic and recycled. Cool doesn’t make $140 magically appear in my bank account though. Sadly.
After looking at them for a while, all grumpy and bitter that I’m not rich, I decided I could probably make something comparable for considerably less money. Like, you know, the no kind of money which is about all the money we currently have.
Several years ago Steve and I had a huge fight about the curtains in my living room and how I couldn?t have new curtains because that was a frivolous expense even though I just freshly painted the living room and really needed new curtains*. I swear it. We actually haven’t had a fight that loud and passionate since. Curtains are a Big Deal. Men need to understand this. Also, Steve underestimates me, I got new curtains for a steal (literally, my Grandma bought them for me for my birthday that year) and I got new curtain rods by returning all the pop cans and waiting for a killer sale. So there.
Since I?m thrifty and clever, I kept the old curtains. One never knows when one may need old curtains you see. Those curtains have been remade into numerous things, including 4 little nature bags.

I?m quite proud of these bags, and learned a lot in the process of putting them together. The pattern is of my own creation (if you can call a mail bag a pattern of my own creation, and I do). They have a Velcro closure, and little pockets on the inside for nature necessities. That?s right; I made a bag with INTERIOR pockets. The brain, it hasn?t worked that hard in very, very long while. In each one I tucked a pair of real binoculars, a bird book, magnify glass, sketchbook, pencil, glue and bug jar. And yes, the pockets fit things, like the binoculars. All told, after buying the binoculars and magnify glasses the four bags cost $46, a little more than a 1/4 of the cost of the actual bags, and I could have skipped the binoculars but really think kids should have a real pair anyway. Of course, Callum already broke his pair so um. yeah.

Since the bags were made out of beige canvas, I figured it needed a little something to spice it up, but I still wanted to honour the intent of making these bags from recycled materials. The fabric owl and bird ribbons seemed perfect, they were in a huge bag of ribbon I bought some time ago at a thrift store. It doesn’t get more recrafted then this.

When Steve saw the bags all done up with the ribbon he remarked on how I had ?hippie?d? up the bags true to where we live. I really hadn?t meant for the bags to look ?hippie? but he?s right. They really do. We?ve got four little nature-loving hippies now. I?m down with that.

The best part is that the kids really seemed to enjoy them. Especially my god-daughter (she’s who I caught running to get her sketchbook to sketch a bug she saw or glue in a leaf on numerous occassions. Seriously, why doesn’t the entire world have children because the joy they pour into your heart IS LIKE THE BEST DRUG EVER. Sadly I suck at pictures and didn’t take one of all the kids gluing in leaves and scribbling on every page of their book (ok, only Callum did that).

The bird book I made custom for our vacation spot with this super cool website called WhatBird.com, then laminated them with my mini laminating dealie. I?m cool, I have a mini laminating dealie. I know you?re jealous.
Since I made my own nature bags, I didn’t get the cool book telling me the activities I could do in nature. I compromised and instead bought myself I Love Dirt. Any excuse to buy myself a new book, and I could justify the $12. It’s a cute book, with some fun ideas like trying to build your own bird nest and the like. To make this a truly recrafted project, I suppose I should have bought the book second-hand. hmmm… and the binoculars and magnifying glasses…
*the curtains I bought are exactly the same color, but honestly? Not the point. These curtains sit on the rod differently and yes, it matters.

5 Responses to “Recrafted :: Nature Bags”

1. Angela says:

   July 28, 2009 at 10:58 am

   I think that yours are much nicer and way cooler. Where did you get the magnifiying glasses? I bought my kids some and they fell apart in a few days.
   I think I may have to tackle such a task. Maybe when the kids are in school.
   I think I may need to invest in a laminating thing too. There have been many times I have wanted laminate something and just haven’t.
2. LisaB says:

   July 28, 2009 at 6:17 pm

   Super cool – I would have loved one of those bags when I was little (before I became a nature-phobe)!
   Also, I am jealous of your laminating machine. Such potential…
3. michelle says:

   July 30, 2009 at 10:46 pm

   I too am jealous about your laminating thingie…..maybe a good friend will buy me one for Christmas…..
4. Suzy says:

   August 1, 2009 at 10:12 pm

   I know I’m always saying these, but you could totally sell these. Be like Lisa and get an Etsy account. The world will thank you.
   BTW your children always look incredibly happy. Just sayin’, is all.
5. Shell says:

   August 2, 2009 at 9:01 am

   You continue to foster my belief that you are a genius. Can you spare a tenth of your talents for me?