"Play" Activity Bag

I'm back with yet another project I created for the current "Just Add Water" Front Porch Kit.  I had alot of fun with this one, especially since it was a challenge to come up with ways to create the parts and pieces.

A natural canvas bag is one of the surfaces in this kit (we affectionately call her "Callie Canvas") and I wanted to use it in an unconventional way.  Here she is finished as an activity bag for taking to the park, the beach or even on a car trip.

I slit the sides of the bag and glued the raw edges down so the bag could be opened flat for playing games.  I punched holes along the edges with a Crop-a-dile and threaded various ribbons and trims through to tie the bag back together when it's not being used.

Here is one side of the inside of the bag. I used painter's low-tack tape to tape off the checkerboard pattern and painted with two colors of acrylic paint.  The checkers were made by glueing scraps of the printed papers from the kit onto pieces of the cardboard box (that the kit came in) and then diecutting one-inch circles and hearts for the game pieces.  I made a cute little drawstring bag to keep the pieces in when not in use and this ties onto one of the straps. Since many people don't sew, I used hot glue for this to show that it can be done without sewing.

The other side of the bag has a 9-inch square of one of the tone-on-tone prints from the kit glued to the canvas. I glued apiece of lightweight, rigid acrylic also cut 9 inches square over the paper to create a dry-erase board. I tore strips of two coordinating fabrics and tied into knots to embellish the corners.  A small piece of coral lace was glued into a tube at the bottom of the board to hold a dry-erase marker.

The outside of the bag is collaged with pages from word-game books and embellished with my favorite part of the entire project - the little chipboard word.  This was the front cover of the chipboard book included in the kit.  

I mixed embossing paste and Dylusions Spray Ink together to make a gorgeous shade of turquoise and spread this generously all over the top of the chipboard word.

While it was still wet I laid a piece of sequin waste ribbon (most people will recognize this specialty ribbon as homecoming mums ribbon) over the paste and gently removed it.  This creates a wonderful pattern and, once dry, it can be inked to enhance the design.

I added Glossy Accents to make it shiny and tied a strip lace through the hole before glueing it to the front of the bag.  Below is a close-up to show the wonderful dimension and texture.

As you can see from the different projects I made with this kit (and if you've visited the online gallery to see ALL the amazing projects), this is a fantastic, really versatile kit.  There are still a few remaining kits which can be ordered online (www.thelittlebluehouseonline.com) or by visiting or calling The Little Blue House at 817-431-7930.  So be sure to get yours while they last!