Summer Tote Bag Series: Seahorse Beach Tote

Can a series only have two parts? 
Confession: I only have two Summer Totes to blog about this week.  Calling this a "series" may have been a bit of an overstatement.  But you never know, I may be inspired again, before summer comes to a close. 
Today's tote was fairly simple.  I came across a plain blank canvas tote while cleaning out my closet a few weeks ago.  I couldn't tell you where or when I bought it, but it was similar to this.  
I found this easy and straight forward tutorial for a DIY Seahorse Silhouette Beach Bag on The Graphics Fairy.

Here is my version:

a close up:

I followed The Graphic Fairy's directions more or less, but since I don't have a Silhouette machine, went the old fashioned route.  I printed out the Seahorse silhouette, applied Heat 'n Bond to the back of a rectangle of fabric, traced the shape onto the fabric, cut it out by hand, applied it to the tote, then finally, sewed the shape to the tote.  Whew. And now, you have a lovely little tote to go to the beach or to the pool or even to the farmer's market. 

Fabric: Lark by Amy Butler; Kasbah Ikat in Midnight.

Halloween Totes

Fall has hit us hard here in Maryland. I do love the fall, the crisp weather, apples, boots, sweaters, the changing leaves... But a 30 degree temperature drop from one day to the next seems a little extreme. (The high was 85 on Friday and 55 on Saturday.) Then again, it seems that all weather we experience around here is dramatic, let's not forget the relatively recent earthquake, hurricane, tropical storm trifecta. So this is to be expected.

With fall comes my least favorite holiday, Halloween. While I'm not a fan, my nephew and nieces do love it and I do love any excuse to send them presents. This weekend, I appliqued 3 little totes. And then shopped this weekend for books, mask kits and other little treats to fill them with.

Doily Straw Tote

The tutorial that inspired this project, was found on Under the Sycamore, a DIY project called The Doily Canvas Bag. I've had this tutorial in the back of my mind for a while. Wanted to give it a shot, but I kept forgetting to purchase a plain canvas bag. And to be honest, was afraid that I couldn't make mine as crisp and clean as on the original tutorial. Last summer, I had picked up this very plain straw tote at Joann's. I believe is was something like 70% off. It's been hanging on a doorknob in my living room since August. Over the holidays, I had purchased some doilies at the dollar store that I cut up to make gift tags. The other evening, I was itching to make something, saw the straw tote hanging there, remembered the doilies and put the two of them together. So this is my version of the Doily Bag. The doily print isn't perfectly clear printed on the straw, but I'm happy with the end result. Sort of an impressionist doily. It will be perfect for the beach this summer.

The End of the Yellow Oilcloth

When I was little, I once had a school picture, taken in a yellow dress. It was quite possibly, one of the worst pictures taken of me. I looked so jaundiced and pale. Eeek! (If only I had that picture to scan in...but then again, wouldn't want subject you to that.) From that day, my mother declared that I looked terrible in yellow. And so for 30 some years, I didn't. Then last year, I went out on a limb and bought a yellow cardigan. And realized that I actually look nice in yellow. My love affair with yellow had begun. It's a hot color this summer. So, when I can across the yellow oilcloth in my stash, I knew I had to put it to use. I decided to make a large tote. Thought it would be useful for my upcoming travels, I'm told that there will be some pool visits! And in the very least, can be used for toting produce at the farmer's market. I also decided to make a couple of more little zipper pouches. You can never have too many of those!