Mels Purple Giraffe: The Cutest Paper Purse Gift Bag!!

Okay, so it has been awhile since I've actually posted a project on here. For starters, my Chemistry class is kicking my butt... I forgot how demanding science classes can be, and my History of Psychology class is well... history, which is cool, but a lot of information to take in, and of course this one is only an 8 week class, so I'm totally overwhelmed by the amount of work that I need to do each week!! I should be used to it by now.

Another thing is I started a project in my son's bathroom. We haven't painted that room since we moved in, a little over a year ago, and it is past time for a refreshing new color and theme in there... so this weekend I picked up my paint brush and started painting away. Of course, now my back and legs are demanding some time to relax on the couch in front of the TV, but I saw this project and I thought it was too cute to not do this weekend. So today after work was over I pulled out my supplies and followed along with the video that I was directed to.

Now first I have to give credit to a couple of people that I followed to come up with this project. The first person is Mary over at Cardz TV, who was showcasing a card she received from another blogger Karey from Creative Craft Corner, which is where I saw a post about the purse originally. She linked the purse to another blog which is Stamp & Scrap with Frenchie, who by the way has the cutest accent you will ever hear. I can't figure out exactly where it is from, but I love it!!! So now that you know where I came up with the idea let me show you some pics and tell you briefly how to put it together. If you go to Frenchie's blog with the above link it takes you right to her video where she explains it in full detail, and it is really easy to follow.

I started out with a full 12x12 piece of paper from my DCWV All Dressed Up paper pack (which I have to say has some amazing papers). I then used some scraps of paper for the top part (brown section) two pieces of 6.5x2 scored in the middle. I agree with Frenchie when she says you need good glue, but I used some medium brads to hold my ribbon in place, so that should help it stay in place. The brads were from a clearance stack I picked up awhile ago. The ribbon I bought from Crafty Steals. If you haven't checked out their website you should. They have some awesome deals. Anyway, the ribbon is from American Crafts Everyday Ribbon Box which came with several different selections of ribbons, and the quality is amazing on these ribbons... of course this means I now have to find a better way to store my ribbon as I'm starting to actually get quite a collection!!!

The hard part for me was the closure. Frenchie uses velcro, but I didn't have anything like that around my house. I've promised my DH that I would hold off on buying anymore supplies until I have a better ER fund in my bank, so I had to figure out what to do, so using my puncher that I use for my brads I punched two holes on each side in the middle, then sewed twine and tied it off, then on the second side I sewed a spare button I had laying around, and then looped the twine around the button to hold it closed.

Finally, I added some bling with my little flower. The paper already has sparkle to it, but I wanted to add a little something extra, so I pulled out my few flowers I have stashed away, and placed it on using a brad. Of course you should do this before you start gluing the top part on because it makes it harder to reach in there.