I Spy... Perry!

So I've wanted to try these little things called ispy bags since I first saw them out on the internet. I adored them. Simply and completely. However, one thing always bothered me about the "themed" bags that I saw on etsy. Someone would be a selling a bag that they claimed was Cars themed, but only the bag itself was made of Cars fabric or had a Cars character embroidered on it. The little items to find inside were unrelated to Cars. It bugged me.

So I thought about it. I've slowly been collecting odds and ends (Target, Michaels, etc.) to put in my ispy bags and then I had a thought. Why not make my own? So I went to Wal-Mart and looked for stickers for my son's favorite cartoon characters. Boy did I find them... and they were cheap. So started with the tools I had on hand: cardstock, laminator, the fabric, etc. and went from there.

I stuck a sticker on a piece of card stock and cut out the cardstock as close to the image as I could. Then on the other side I stuck the same sticker (the packages come with upwards of about 100 stickers a package - most packages only cost 97 cents). I then cut out a piece of cardstock in the shape of a rectangle or square and stuck another stick of the same image on the square. I fed all of these through my laminator.

Then not only did I have my list, I also had my items to stuff the bag. I started with, of course, the Phineas and Ferb bag.





The rest of the steps were the same as any other ispy bag. I then beat the living crap out of the bag to make sure that not only was my sewing secure, but that the laminated stickers were going to work. Boy do they ever.

The one thing that I really like about the way my bags are constructed is the way in which the find list is attached. Its laminated so kids can write on it with a dry erase marker when they find what they are looking for. The list is also removable. So if you have a younger child or a child that wants more of a challenge, you can simply say, "How many items can you find?"





This project was easy and fun. I can def. see why people are addicted to this little crafty item. The Phineas and Ferb was easy enough. Cutting squares. So I decided to up the ante in the next one, if you will. I traced a spool of ribbon to cut out a circle and then stitched is using one of the fancier items on my sewing machine.









What I liked most about these two items were the themes. I just think its so stinking cute. I find it a fun challenge to dig through the sticker isle or the foam area, or online clipart to find theme related items. My next challenge, I think, with these ispy bags is to create holiday themed ones filled with appropriate items.

Oh! And this is my 100th post. Wow. *throws confetti* That is all.