Lunch Plans

It's that time of year again, time to make gifts for the teachers in our lives.  I really like making something for each person who takes such good care of my kids when they are away from home, but I worry that these gifts will not be what they want and will end up in the Goodwill box.  This year I've made very practical things, something that the teacher can use or even their kids.

I, like many people I know, hate using plastic bags that get thrown away and clutter the landfills.  So, several months ago I went looking for tutorials on the web for making some snack bags to send in my kids' lunch boxes.  I also went shopping for some fabric and got carried away with the coordinates I found.  That is when I decided I would also make some for the teachers on my gift list.  Each one is getting a reusable sandwich wrap (the large, octagonal shape) that doubles as a place mat and two velcro-closing snack bags.  Each piece is lined with PUL fabric which makes them easy to clean and keeps the outside of the bag relatively dry.  These items can be hand washed at the sink when cleaning out the day's lunch boxes and allowed to dry on the dish drainer overnight.  They could also be machine washed.

The internet is full of tutorials on making these so I will not duplicate those efforts here.  I will tell you that the sandwich wrap started as a 14" square, and to make cutting easy, the bags were cut 7" x 14" (I cut a lot of 14" squares and then cut some of them in half for the bags.)  I added a little coordinate stripe on some of them and fashioned the closure flap on the sandwich wrap from the corners I cut off the square to make the octagon.

I hope these will be useful gifts.  And maybe I'll get around to making my own kids a set one day (sort of reminds me of the tale of the cobbler's children).  What are you making for teachers this year?

Sharing today over at Today's Creative Blog and Sew Inspirations Blog Hop.  Hop on over!

Key Fobs for Teacher Gifts (and Giveaway!)

My latest project for the holidays is a whole bunch of fabric key fobs, some of which will become gifts for my kids’ teachers.  I found a list of great ideas for teacher gifts including these lovely key fobs.  Now, I believe in giving credit where credit is due, but the link to the tutorial no longer works.  Somewhere between when I originally read the post and a week later when I sat down to make some of these, Buttercuppity’s blog became invitation only.  I was able to access a cached copy and get the details.  Here is a synopsis along with several changes I made along the way:

• Cut double-sided Peltex (#72) 10” x 1.25”.
• Cut fabric A (background) 10” x 2.75”.
• Cut heavy weight fusible interfacing 10” x 7/8”.
• Cut fabric B (foreground) 10” x 2”.

Center Peltex on the wrong side of fabric A, wrap fabric edges over Peltex and fuse both sides.  Center interfacing on the wrong side of fabric B and fuse.  Fold fabric edges over interfacing and press to crease.  Stack fabric B on top of fabric A with the raw fabric edges facing (sandwiched between layers) and stitch down both sides (you can use fusible tape or Wonder tape to hold the pieces together while stitching).  Fold the resulting strip in half, matching raw edges.  Attach the hardware to the top.  Make sure to cover the hardware with a soft cloth when using pliers to crimp the top closed so as not to mar the metal.  Hardware can be purchased from Country Brook Design (you want the 1.25” key fob hardware).

Since I am really in the spirit of giving this year I will give one of these beauties to someone who leaves me a comment on this post.   You can choose the color and, as a bonus, I will throw in three sets of hardware so you can make your own!  I’ll pick a winner next Monday morning.

Sharing today over at Get Your Craft On (Today's Creative Blog).  Love all of the projects linked up there.  Check them out.