I Spy Bags

I am in the midst of orchestrating a making of "I Spy" bags for those who are interested.

This is M's, if you don't know what they are. They are very easy to make. Basically its a flannel bag and you put various things in them and make a key (see picture below). Then the activity is to find all the different things in the bag. M at the age now where the bag is of interest to her.

As you can see I put 16 different things in the bag, but I think 20-ish would be better. Most of the stuff in the bag are buttons (from Roberts), but you also want to use household items, like a penny, paper clip, piece of ribbon, hair pin...whatever you want. Right now there are two other moms interested in making them. Because of the cost of buttons (about $2 a bag), it is best to do this activity in a group. I have a bunch of leftover buttons we can use, though I will charge a tiny bit for them because they were expensive to buy and I don't really want to eat all the cost. It only takes about 10 minutes to sew one together.

These are the supplies needed:

About a 5 inch wide strip of Flannel (Flannel works best)

About a 4 inch wide strip of Clear plastic (like for a clear shower curtain. I know Joanns has it, and I have some leftover)

A ton of buttons and other things to put in the bag.

Also you will need to make a key. What I did was typed one up after, laminated it at OfficeMax, looped in on with ribbon and zig-zag stitched it onto the bag. Easy enough.

If you are interested in doing them, let me know. Next week I'm going with the other women interested in doing them to Roberts to buy the buttons. If you want a say, you're welcomed to come. Plan on about $5 a bag when all is said and done. If you want me to make one for you, I charge $8 a bag.

I hope this makes sense. I've never organized a "sewing thing" before, so I'm not very good at it. Plus, these make GREAT gifts!