destination bags.

anybody know how to add tabs to a blog? until i figure it out, i guess that i will just have to write it here in this trusty old column. i wanted to do a craft tab, and a meal tab and some other little cutesy things, but for lack of knowledge where technology is concerned, you can consider this post as part of my craft tab... the first little craft tab from the least crafty person!

okay, so if you know me, i'm not super crafty. although i do thoroughly enjoy seeing what others have come up with and trying to follow their lead. i have been wanting to do this little craft for the longest time... i saw it ages and ages ago on a blog. like probably two years ago. anyways, i don't have pictures or anything, but maybe i can describe it well enough to give you the general idea... you can craft it to suit your needs from the image that your mind's eye conjures up. here goes:

you need plain canvas bags. just how many is up to you. they're the kind that you can find in craft stores... just the plain beige canvas that has that same kind of handle that our gym bags had when we sewed them in seventh grade. you know the ones i'm talking about, right? you can get them at craft stores in all sorts of sizes and pretty cheap (like around 4 bucks or less, depending on the size)... for this project, you can decide your size based on your need. well, the idea was to park some of these bags on hooks by the door, so that you could just grab them on the way out, depending on your destination. i'm not sure exactly what they had recommended decorating them with... fabric markers? washable markers? i would think some sort of fabric marker or puffy paint would work... and if you sew, you could even do one with fabric scraps or patches put on. well, here's where the destination idea comes in.

you get a bag for the library... stow your books in that need to be returned.

you get a bag for restaurants... (the one that they had pictured had a place setting drawn on it, so that non-readers would even recognize it's purpose) and stick in stuff for the wait at restaurants like crayons, paper, different ideas for quiet games, that game that is on every table at cracker barrel, an extra sippie cup or a funky straw that makes drinking fun...

you get a bag for small road trips... include car games, headphones and cd's

you get one for at grandma's house... include a blanket from home or some art supplies or a dvd

you get one for essentials for school... we always leave the house and seem to forget something

you get one to keep in the car... extra change of clothes, a snack, a juice box, some mittens or a hat in winter or an emergency bathing suit for summer-sprinkler-jumping at a friend's house

the ideas and destinations are endless.

anyway, i ran into some fun canvas bags today at wal-mart (i know, i hate wal-mart too, but it's like a bad addiction that i can't stop since there are limited options around here) for 5 bucks. they had ones with polka dots, stripes and designs. if i had two picky kids, i'd get a bag for each of them to take stuff to restaurants... whatever. you get the idea, i'm sure, and i don't need to go on. it was such a cutesy idea, and i am excited to kinda see it come to fruition in our house. i just need to find some cool patches to put on it since it's already decorated for me...