Small Fry & Co.

I want to start by apologizing for the blurry pictures.  I did something with Picasa and I don't know how to change them. 

I saw this idea just the other day on Ucreate.  It was a feature of a spring banner made by Blue Cricket Design.  I fell in love instantly.  In fact I fell in love and thought, "why didn't I think of that.  I should have thought of that."  I hate it when that happens.  But it got my creative juices flowing once again-and they were not flowing at all this last little while so I am grateful.  I created a couple of my own.  Here is one for summer:

 And here is one for Father's Day.

 I am going to share a quick tutorial for my version of this fabulous idea.
Start with as many paper bags as you have letters in whatever you are going to spell.  For the Father's Day banner I trimmed about 2 inches off the bottom of the bags because I liked that size better than a full sized lunch sac.  I cut colored cardstock to go on each bag (4 x 5 1/2").  I also traced my letters on the wrong side of a piece of cardstock.  NOTE: if you are going to trace the letters on the wrong side, make sure you trace them backwards.  I never remember-I do it wrong everytime.

 I sewed my colored pieces of cardstock to the paper bags.  I angled each piece a bit different.

 Next I sewed my long piece of ribbon across the tops of the bags with a large zig zag stitch.  I left about 2 inches between each bag. 

Next add the letters.  I used glue dots to attach them.  I traced around each letter with black tick marks.  I think it makes the letters stand out more.

 Lastly embellish.  I used fish, moose, ducks and pine trees because my husband is really outdoorsy.  I added some ribbon scraps and buttons as well.  The sky is the limit really.

There you have it.  So cute.  Thank you Blue Cricket Design for some great inspiration.