BiblioBags Custom Book Purse Giveaway!

This month marks the second anniversary of my Etsy shop, BiblioBags.  To celebrate, I'm giving away a free custom book purse!  

FREE CUSTOM PURSE FROM BIBLIOBAGS GIVEAWAY

 

An up to $85 value!

                                                                                          

How to enter:

1. Post what book you would want made into a custom book purse on BiblioBags’ Facebook Wall as many times as you like.

2. Post one comment on this blog.

I will choose a winner at random next Monday, May 21st and announce it on my Facebook wall and on my blog.

Rules:

1. All entrants must be 12 years or older.  However, I will make whatever book purse (within reason and the following rules) you like for whomever you like!  Say your 9 year old niece really wants one . . . you can enter the contest and I can make a book purse for her.  Make sense?

2. All materials including the book, fabric and handles must be within my set budget.  No $400 first edition books or diamond encrusted handles, okay?  I’ll let you know what is reasonable and what is not.

3. Please no books that include or promote pornography, hateful speech, symbols, etc.  Let’s keep it nice and clean, folks . . . especially on the cover!  Example: Your favorite book may be a historical text on WWII but if it has a swastika on the cover, I’m not comfortable making a purse out of it.  While we’re at it, no religious texts allowed either.  I don’t want to anger any dieties . . . my life is complicated enough.  I reserve the right to turn down a book if I find it offensive or inappropriate.  But relax.  I may be Mormon but I’m pretty laid back.  I just don’t want to put my name on something that is offensive or in excessively bad taste.  A little bad taste I’m okay with.  Wink, wink.

4. Your choice of book is subject to my review, meaning, if it’s too shabby to make into a purse, you’ll have to find another one.  I prefer hardcover/hardback books in good condition.  I will try to make your wildest book purse dreams come true but if it’s not possible, we’ll have to try something different.  So be patient with me!  (Because the best way to make someone patient is to throw an exclamation point at them . . . )

5. Please allow at least 5 weeks for me to complete your custom purse.  Sometimes I am backed up with several orders at a time, sometimes I have none at all.  It just depends on my work load at the moment.

Need ideas?  Go to my shop page and peruse my “sold” listings.  There’s a huge range of what can do and what I have done in the past. 

GOOD LUCK!

Mmm Mmm, Good!

Before I get to the post, I need to let you know (or remind you) about this month's giveaway.  I'm giving away this Harry Potter charm bracelet with the Hogwarts crest and the crests of all the Houses.  To win, you must post your favorite Hogwarts House on my Facebook page.  Each post counts as one "ticket" and you may post as many times as you like.  You can post through Monday night and I'll announce the winner Tuesday (Sept. 20th).  Good luck!

Last month I had the opportunity to make a custom purse for a Campbell's Soup Test Kitchen employee who was retiring.  Her co-worker contacted me and said she already had a book (well, a notebook) and fabric.  I had never made a purse from a book (much less fabric) I had never seen but I thought I'd give it a try.  The fact this was for a Campbell's Test Kitchen employee was exciting!  I, like every other kid in America, grew up on Chicken and Stars (and still love it!).  Campbell's is such an iconic brand that carries a certain sense of nostalgia and Americana.  I'm a sucker for anything "retro" so this was right up my alley.

I got the notebook and fabric and instantly knew I would have to do some "tweaking."  The notebook was a deep burgundy color and the fabric was lime green with tomato red accents.  I knew it would work fine but I needed another fabric to bridge the notebook and Campbell's fabric for a more cohesive look.  I went through my fabric and scored big: a red and white checkered fabric I had used on another nostalgic purse.  Luckily, the fabric had red and burgundy in it.  Kismet, baby!  I decided to use the fabric for the bottom and for the pockets inside the purse.  I was so relieved when it all came together and actually worked!

I use a button closure on all my purses and I try to do something special or different for each one.  There was only one choice for this purse: it had to be a mini can of soup.  First, I tried making a Shrinky Dink one.  It came out really cute but it was so flat.  For the button to work, it needed to be shaped like a can of soup.  Searching through my craft pile, inspiration struck: a mini thread bobbin!  Since it already had a hole running through the middle, it would make a great toggle.  I was able to find a picture of a wrapper online and sized it on Photoshop.  A few coats of Modge Podge and ta-dah!

Cute, no?

The retiree was thrilled with the purse.  I felt so honored to take part in such a big life event like a retirement.  It makes the silly things I do so much more meaningful.  My customer put a lot of trust in me and I appreciate that. She was an amazing customer . . . I wish all custom orders were like this!  I was an absolute dream and I'm grateful I got to do it!

T-Skirt Tutorial: Turn a Men's T-Shirt into a Skirt!

I love t-shirts.  In fact, I'm a little obsessed with them.  At one point, I owned 60+ t-shirts.  When I first saw the idea for a t-shirt skirt, I was excited to say the least.  Besides being cute, they are extremely comfortable!  I wore mine with flip flops in the summer heat and it was so nice.  I think I'll wear it through fall by layering it with leggings.

I researched and read several different methods for making a skirt from a t-shirt and found they were more complicated than they had to be.  By accident, I recently discovered foldover elastic.  This stuff is genius . . . why didn't anyone tell me about it earlier?!  Anyway, I decided to try using it as the waistband for this skirt and it was crazy easy and fast.  Here's what you'll need to make your own:

A t-shirt (preferably a men's size . . . I'm a size 6 and used a size "L" shirt)

1 yard foldover elastic (available through this amazing Etsy shop)

Thread

1. Turn the t-shirt inside out.  Now, if you have a skirt that fits well, get it out now.  I used an old a-line skirt as a template.  I laid it on top of the shirt and drew the shape onto the t-shirt with chalk.

2. Using the chalk outline as a guide, cut the t-shirt.  Be sure to leave about an inch outside the chalk for seam allowance.  Pin the sides of the skirt at the chalk line.

3. Sew the sides of the skirt.  Be sure to try it on to see if it fits well.

4.  Following the line down the middle, fold the elastic over the waist and pin.  When you get to the end, fold the elastic over once and then fold that portion over the starting point.  Pin down, then sew.

Tah-dah!  You're done!  Super easy, fast and cute.  I can't wait to make more!  If you make your own, please post your results!

I'm currently having a giveaway on my Facebook page right now.  Post the word "Alice" to my wall (as many times as you'd like) for a chance to win this "Drink Me" necklace I made:

You have through Monday, August 29th to enter.  The winner will be announced Tuesday, August 30th.  Good luck!