Stretching Dollars: Don't get rid of those "SKINNY" jeans!!

So, I was thinking about the excellent post that Erin put up about taking your kids on nature walks when I suddenly remembered going to a Pow-Wow as a young child and making bags out of old jeans (random, I know). Anyway, Brooklyn loves bags in any form, so I decided rather than using a brown paper bag on our nature scavenger hunt, I would make her a very special "nature bag"!


Just grab an old pair of jeans that you've been hoping to wear again (but secretly know you never will after delivering an 8 pound baby) and cut off the leg. You can make several bags out of one pair of jeans, or just save the rest for another project.

Next, turn the leg inside out and sew up the end that you cut.

Now turn it right side out and you have a bag! Everything else from this point on is personal preference and just for fun.

We pulled out some pink scraps I had from some dresses I just finished and some pink flowers that Grandma Uda gave us. (Brooklyn really loves pink.)

The material scraps were from the straps of a dress and were already sewn in strips. I just cut V's in the ends and glued them together. Then I added a flower and a button and we were good to go!

I thought about sewing the flower on, but then I got over it. I whipped out my hot glue gun instead and glued that sucker on tight!

Then I cut a 4 inch wide strip of my pink fabric (45 inches long) to make the strap.

I ironed it in half, opened it up, and then folded the right side to the crease and ironed. Then I did the same thing on the left side. Next, I folded it back in half and ironed again. (I really hate ironing but it makes a HUGE difference when you are sewing!)

Now its time to sew down all four sides to keep the fabric together, and to keep your strap strong.

I picked an easy place for my strap to go on and gave it a few good stitches. I didn't worry about hiding the end because I'm lazy...

...instead I glued another flower with a gem in the middle over my seam! No one will ever know. :)

This is what we ended up with! A cute bag to collect nature in, our printed scavenger list, and an old iPod case to showcase Brooklyn's great finds!

Now all we need is a little warm weather so we can head outdoors and get our scavenger hunt on! Woohoo!

Oh! And if you're wondering what to do with all those other pairs of jeans that you can't wear... here is what I did. I simply couldn't stand the idea of never fitting into my jeans again so I cut them into squares and sewed this baby blanket for my little nephew. It turned out great and I've never regretted getting those jeans out of my closet. :)