{Kids} DIY Quick and Easy Activity Bag

There are so many kids toys these days that come in disposable bags when you buy them.  Once opened, you’re in need of something cute (always something cute) to keep them all together.  Because loose in a toy box is not neatly organized for going out, it’s just the perfect solution to keeping stuff off your living room floor.  For those smaller toys like puzzle pieces, blocks, Lego’s, small stuffed animals, small zoo or farm animals, having smaller areas to keep them organized and easily accessible is crucial.  When running out the door to your favorite restaurant, you will need something quick and easy to take with you that will occupy your little ones.

At the zoo this past weekend, we bought some new zoo animals and came home with yet another plastic bag that doesn’t close so it had to be put in the recycle bin and the zoo animals were just strewn about my car, my home, the stroller…you get the picuture.  So grandma, being a bit of an organizer herself, got busy on her sewing machine and in an hour we had a great bag for my grandson to put his zoo animal collection in (and of course, the animal print fabric matches the toys that go in the bag). 

I think I am going to make more bags and get all different fun and coordinating fabrics to make it easy for him, to know what item goes into what bag.   One bag with pictures of blocks for his building blocks, his puzzles, his Lego’s, etc.  Smaller bags can be made with these same instructions, just cut down the measurements, for marbles, dominoes, jacks and dice…oh, do they still have those ? I am dating myself now, but hey I am a grandma!

HERE’S WHAT YOU’LL NEED

• 1/2yd. Fabric
• Thread
• Tape measure
• Scissors
• Pins
• Iron

HERE’S HOW TO MAKE IT

1. Cut a 14″ wide x 22″ long piece of fabric, measured from fold.
2. Cut 2-3″ wide x 22″ long strips, measure from fold.
3. Take 1 of the strips and cut 2, 14″ long pieces. Fold over the ends and sew down.
4. Pin and sew the 14″ strips to both 14″ sides of fabric, right side to wrong side.
5. Fold down top edge 1/4″ and iron. Fold over band to raw edge, iron and sew, to make casing for strap.
6. Take the other strap, horizontally fold and iron, right sides together, and sew 1 end and raw edge 1/4″.  Clip corner and turn right side out.  *See tip below for an easy way to turn strap. Turn in and sew end closed.
7. Thread strap through top casing, from one case side to the other.  Use a large safety pin on one end to thread it through the casing.
8. With wrong sides together, pin and sew case sides together. Make sure straps are out of casing at equal lengths on one side.  Sew the seam over  the looped strap side and up to the casing seam on the other side, that as the straps coming out of the casing.
9. Turn right side out, iron and draw the straps to close at top.

*Tip: With a pencil that has an eraser, separate and push the eraser side into 1 ply of fabric at the closed end. Pull fabric over the pencil until you push all the fabric onto the pencil and you see the right side of the fabric pushing through.  Move the eraser back and forth until the end of the material strap is all pushed out. Remove the pencil from the fabric and holding the right side of fabric that sticks out, shack strap completely out. Iron flat.