handmade Christmas 2011

The boys' final handmade Christmas gifts this year are little backpacks for toting their treasures.  (It's so nice that they're at a stage where I can make them the same thing, and they'll both enjoy it!)  These little bags are the happy merging of various ideas: the road trip backpack pillow, cargo pants upcycled into a messenger bag, and the hobo sack, plus a little bit of Christina flair.

Little Man's backpack is made from one leg of a pair of enormous corduroy cargo pants (See the cargo pocket?  It's so nice to have no-work-needed pockets for bags.) and a beautiful blue and brown plaid shirt.  I got the pants for  about $.050, and the shirt for about $1 at local thrift stores.

Brother's backpack is made from the second leg from the cargo pants and some red and brown plaid that I had in my stash.

I filled each of their bags with several more small gifts: a new book (Little Man is getting Walter the Baker by Eric Carle, and Brother is getting Machines at Work by Byron Barton), a blank notebook for drawings, a car pencil pouch full of twistable colored pencils, a new box of crayons, a beanie baby (regifted from my large collection of beanie babies that I collected in Jr. High and High School), a dinosaur pillow case, and something else that my mommy-brain can't remember. I know there were seven small gifts in each of their bags...  Ha. I guess I'll be as surprised as they are when we open gifts on Christmas Eve. ; )


Bags are one of my favorite things to make, so I was happy to figure out this boyish variation.  The boys will love having them for play and for more serious tasks like packing to spend the night at Grandma and Grandpa's.