Crafty Sneaky Peek

Sometimes I want to write peak rather than peek. Why are there are so many words that are difficult to spell? Is it just me?

OK, so this is one of the (many) things I've been working on. I was in this fabulous store, Cameron's, in University Mall in Chapel Hill and I found these adorable notebooks and they inspired me.

I thought about giving them as a gift and what I could do to make it  more of a "gift" so I came up with this:

(You can't really tell, but I used iron-on vinyl on the inside so it can be wiped out if necessary.)

It has a strap that could go around your wrist if you wanted to carry it or you could hook it to a purse-strap or keys. I like straps.

It's just a small pouch/clutch/bag that you could keep stuff in. I hand embroidered on the front of it just to add a little sumpin' sumpin'. I stuck the notebook, a sharpie pen (my favorite pen) to write in the notebook with and some Burt's Bees lip balm (my favorite chapstick) in the bag. Burt's Bees is a local Durham product, but you can grab a tube at any Target. I think you could also stick in a gift card or something else if you wanted to add to the gift.

Not that I want to advertise to the recipient how much I spend on these things, but it really is affordable to whip up something like this. Now that I've done it a few times I can put together a bag start-to-finish in the time it takes me to watch a movie (this is not counting the hand embroidery on this bag, that took forever), I used this tutorial for the basics. If you have the time and equipment and the bravery, because, let's be honest, it's brave to hand a gift over and utter the words "I made this" I say go for it! If you're less of a crafter and more of a baker, go for that too! If you're less of a baker and more of a doer, I say shovel a driveway! If you're less of a doer and more of a....yeah, I've got nothing.

The breakdown on prices:
-the bag: probably around $3 in fabric, zipper and doo-dads (aka thread), I'm estimating because in purchasing supplies the only thing I won't get a second use or something out of is the zipper
-notebook: $3
-pen: $1.50
-Burt's Bees: $2.50
TOTAL: $10

My budget can handle a $10 gift, but how can you really put a price on something made by these hands?!?!?!??

Gratuitous picture of Hank:

Also, there's a spot on my camera, I've cleaned the lens. Help?