i-spy bag

My family went on a trip recently, a journey that involved 4 different plane rides with a busy toddler. The flights went much better than I expected, but I certainly expected a lot and prepared as best as I could. That process included making some toys that I thought would help my munchkin.

Well, she turned out to be more interested in things other than her new, made-with-Mommy's-love creations. But she's played with the toys since, and I'm hopeful she'll like them more later...but oh well if she doesn't. I'm still going to share the tutorials.

One of the toys I made was this i-spy bag. It was super easy. The secret? A pencil pouch from Target. No need to bust out flannel and vinyl. For the hiding material, I used plastic poly pellets that you can find in your local craft store. They're kind of expensive there, so another option is to buy in bulk from someplace like ebay and split them among friends (which is what a friend of mine did, thanks!).

Now for all the little objects. I've been collecting these for months. I picked up some in the clearance aisles of craft stores, found some at a dollar store, took some off random things (like invitations and mail), and scrounged around the house for others. Paper clips, beads, stickers, buttons, pennies, hair clips, whatever you think will be fun.

Once you've collected all of that, cut off the top and bottom of the pencil pouch, like this:

For every side except the top, fold over about 1/2 inch and pin.

Sew around the whole pouch but be sure to leave an opening somewhere so you can put the filling in. I left an opening wide enough so I could fit a spoon inside. Then fill it up.

Sew the opening closed. Then sew all the way around again for good measure. Trust me, that dream I had of the bag opening up on the airplane and spilling everywhere is not one you want to experience in real life.

I have a lot of the pellets left over, which I think I'm going to use to make bean bags. Maybe my munchkin will like those...