Handmade Holidays, Part 2

I have 2 tween girls (10). They're at that age where they're no longer little girls, but they're not quite ready for teenager things, either. To make it just a little more difficult, even though they are twins they are two completely different people. The ONLY thing that they like that is the same is Twilight. They're best friends, but polar opposites. So I've been letting my brain stew for a few days on what would be good to make handmade for my little eclectics and also got some good input from @SaraLynnArt on Twitter.

T-shirt tote bags would be a great, fun way to show your tween that you're a hip momma. Well, maybe not, but we can try. Sara suggested turning t-shirts into tote bags. Now I'm all up for this, as I just completed my first t-shirt quilt and I'm hooked. So I got to thinking about how to put something like this together. I like this idea from sewmargaretsew on Instructables, which simply takes the t-shirts as they are and turns them into usable bags.
But I was also thinking of something maybe a little more involved. So with just a little more research on YouTube, I found this really great idea from MorbidMisfits.


Once again, can we praise the wonders of duct tape? I mean, if you wanted to get really creative you could use the fancy tape that costs $8 a roll and probably get a couple of bags out of it! I'll have to check the price on the rings, but I don't think they could be that expensive. So even though they'd both have some completely different totes because of the styles they wear, they'd both get something they love!

I also came up with something that my husband and I are going to work on. Ever seen those hammocks that they sell in the grocery stores that have the independent stands you can set up virtually anywhere - even if you don't have trees? Well, one of my girls has wanted one forever. So as the smoke came rolling from my ears I thought of making the stand out of PVC pipe and sewing together some canvas for the actual hammock. I couldn't find anyone doing this online, so I'm going to price it out and see if it would be economical, then get back to you with a tutorial.

One of my girls also likes to read, so I'm thinking of making her an individual book tote with the duct tape idea and some really great fabric. There are just so many possibilities! Have fun with these ideas and drop me a line if you have more!