Small project, big ego.

My first grader's teacher sends home a canvas tote whenever it's my daughter's turn to bring in snacks for the class. The bag looks like it was lovingly handmade by someone, but since getting dragged around by first graders, it started to look a little worse for wear. I thought I'd make the class a new snack bag, for the same reason I do anything: 50% out of actual kindness, and 50% out of the desire to get rid of fabric and foist my crafts onto others.

On the right is the old and busted, and on the left is the new hotness. I tried to make the bag similar to the first - heavy material on the outside, webbed handles. I tried to improve upon the things that I found lacking in the original bag: I made it a little bigger, plus made the word "snacks" more visible. Plus, I like my bags like I like my women - with a flat bottom.

 

The lining is made from a colorful food-themed fabric I bought at Wal-Mart two years ago, fully intending to make a quilt with it. I was thrilled to clear it out of my yardage for once and for all. In fact, the only thing I had to buy to make this project was the webbing for the handle. I even got to try a "something new" for this project - for the first time, I made a bag without any sort of pattern or tutorial. It's not perfect, but it turned out pretty well in the end.

And when my job as snack buddy comes the day after Easter, you bet there are going to be 20+ kids who get to eat some deviled eggs. 

And even though the teacher sent home a very nice thank you note, her appreciation couldn't even touch the ego boost I got a few days ago. I was looking at the numbers of views on my blog posts, and I noticed that my post about the Dan Savage Valentine's Day "Fuck First" pillow had received over 1000 views, way outnumbering any other post I had done. After a little bit of investigation, I found that about a month ago, Dan Savage had Tweeted a picture of the package I sent him to Ann Landers' daughter.

I found the same picture later at a Nebraska news blog, showing Margo Howard's response, and her claim that if Ann Landers ever saw my work, she'd faint. This readers will take that as a compliment.

And even though Mr. Savage didn't mention my name or the name of this blog, people found their way here. And Dan's picture found its way around the internet, even to this Pinterest page:

See it there in the middle? Adorable.

So my work got a few bright moments of internet fame, and it was quite a thrill.