"I Spy" Kids Bags

A friend of mine is doing a Toddler Busy Bag party and this is what I decided to make all 15 ladies (16 including myself)!  You know the "I Spy" books that your children just love and can spend hours looking at finding things?  Well, this idea originated from those books and is a fun item to have for the kids.  It is great to take to church, doctor's appointments, car trips, etc...  I've seen these done with felt before, but have heard complaints about the various items getting stuck on the felt inside and the kids not being able to find them.  So I came up with this!

Items Needed:
~ Pencil Case with clear plastic window (found at Walmart for .97)
~ Poly-Pellets.  (They're Non-Toxic and can be found at Hobby Lobby, Joann's, and Michael's in their doll making area.)
~ Small Fun Items.  (Some can be found around the house... marbles, dice, pennies, paperclips, buttons, etc.  And the others I found at various craft stores.)
~ Large Ribbon
~ Super Glue
~ Fabric Glue

*OPTIONAL:  Before you start to make your "I Spy" Bags, take a picture of all your small fun items on a a white sheet of paper.  Copy and paste that picture to a desired computer working space, shrink to a smaller size (I fit SIX onto one sheet of paper), label items, and print them out.  Have them laminated.  Cut them out.  And last but not least, attach to pencil case with a hole punch and string.*
1.  Fill the pencil case with 2.5 CUPS of poly-pellets.
2.  Add small fun items to bag (I used 14 items)
3.  Zip bag shut and take off the dangling part of the zipper pulley.  (You may need to use needle nose pliers for this step.)
4.  Put a small dab of Super Glue where the zipper pulley is on each side.
5.  Measure out your large ribbon, long enough to fit across zipper area and be able to fold around the edges to the backside of pencil case and cut to desired length.
6.  Use the Fabric Glue to glue the large ribbon on top of the zipper and around the back to the edges.  Allow to dry for about three hours.

Your "I Spy" Bag is now ready for your kids to play with!  My two year old doesn't understand that she should be looking for certain items yet, but she still enjoys looking at all the items in the bag.  So I definitely think this is a fun item for both younger and older kids!

52 Reasons I LOVE YOU!

I saw this idea on Pinterest and thought I would give it a try for my husband for Valentine's Day!  I know it has been awhile since Valentine's Day, but forgive me in that I am just now getting around to posting this.

All you need:
1.  A regular deck of playing cards
2.  Scapbooking paper of your choice AND cardstock paper
3.  Two large binder rings
4.  Hole punch
5.  ColorBox Fluid Chalk Inkpad (I used dark brown for antiquing)   
6.  Paper cutter or Scissors
7.  2 Glue Sticks
8.  Any embellishments (like the key and heart lock) that you would like to add!

STEP ONE:  Come up with the 52 reasons of why you love that person.  (This can be given to a boyfriend or girlfriend, husband or wife, son or daughter, etc...)  You can either type them all down on the computer or write them all down by hand.  This is the fun part, so get creative and put some heart into it!

STEP TWO:  After coming up with all your reasons, format each of them on the computer (or by hand) to the correct size and style to fit onto the card.  I did mine on Microsoft Word instead of hand written, because I found it to look nicer and easier to fix any mistakes.  Print onto cardstock paper.

STEP THREE:  Cut out and paste with glue stick all the "reasons" onto your cards!

STEP FOUR:  To make the cover of your "52 Reasons I Love You" cut a piece of scrapbook paper to the size of the card and paste onto one of the Joker or Blank cards.  Print from computer (or hand print) the title you want on the front of your cards onto cardstock paper.  Cut out and paste to cover.

STEP FIVE:  Hole punch the cards with two punches each.  To get them exactly lined up, I used one of the big hole punchers with the measurements on it.  However, you can do it the hard way and use a one hand hole punch, but just remember to take a ruler and measure out where you want the holes first before punching so all the cards line up nice and neat!

STEP SIX:  Put all the cards in the order you would like them and hook them onto the binder rings to make a "book".  This part can be a bit frustrating, but in the end it looks so nice.

STEP SEVEN:  Add any and all embellishment.  As you can see from the photo, I added some antiquing to the edge of the cards, put a key and heart lock on the binder rings, and added some "ruby" stickers.  Please note that if you antique all the cards like I did, that it takes awhile!

When I gave these cards to my husband, the biggest smile lit up his face and he truly LOVES them.  He even took them to work and they now sit on his desk for him to look at any time.  It's a great heartfelt gift and is a great way to show someone how much they really mean to you.