Jo and I finished two huge community projects in the last week, and boy are we tired! One of them involved creating some crafty goodies to put in prize bags for a local “best of” contest being sponsored by our city. We were happy to meet the call and create something fun for each of the 50 winners. That’s right, 50! That meant we had to make something that was not only fun and creative, but also somewhat easy to construct.
We decided to put our skills at re-using old jeans to work. (Remember our place cards, bean bags, water bottle holder, and quilt?) I would’ve thought we’d run the gamut on re-using old jeans, but we managed to come up with yet another really cute little item — a drawstring bag made from the leg of the jeans.
We lined the bags with some coordinating fabric and added a ribbon for a drawstring. The bag is the real prize, but to make them even more appealing, we stuffed the bags with tons of travel goodies (like we put in our airline travel kits). We loved them so much (especially Jo) that we were tempted to make more for all our friends and family, but after cranking out 50 of them, we were pretty tired of sewing!
We got all sorts of inspiration after finishing this project, and are planning to write a full tutorial for you guys in the future, to show you how to create a simple drawstring bag. I’m picturing a red bag with white trim, which will be a perfect little mini Santa bag for Christmas. What do you think? Sound good?
6 comments so far:
These are just darling and the red and white idea is great! Fill with chocolate kisses or marbles for boys and shiny dress up trinkets for girls. Or maybe make up or a small cologne or aftershave. These could be at party place settings (like the traditional crackers).
OOOOO you are so clever!
Those are wonderful ideas for filling the bags, Mary Anne. You’re right, bags like this would make really charming place settings!
This an ingenious idea. I would love to learn how to create this. Lucky winners.
Ok guys, I’ve written the drawstring bag tutorial! I made velvet Santa bags trimmed with fur. Check it out here: http://www.chicaandjo.com/2009/12/10/santas-velvet-drawstring-pouch/
I came across your website while searching for drawstring bag ideas for my soon to be 11 year old daughter’s birthday party. Of course, I got sidetracked in a major way as I saw all the other ideas in the “similar projects” and “top projects” sections. I can’t tell you how long I have been sitting here at my computer reading through the great, as well as easy to do, ideas you have! Your written instructions, as well as the illustrative pictures, are very clear. I am adding you to my “favorites” list!
Welcome, Linda! Please let us know if you have any questions or suggestions as you browse our site, we are here to help! What birthday theme are you having?