Both boys are receiving Santa gifts this year that they asked for (first time ever in this house...Eddie was previously too young and Henry's never really asked for anything...) and the toys they requested are large-ish, bulky and came in those darn open-faced type boxes that are odd-shaped, hard to wrap and impossible to figure out what to do with. In my house Santa gifts were always wrapped, tho I have heard from many friends that in their houses the Santa gifts just have a bow. I wanted to wrap my boys' gifts, but wanted it to be special. At first I bought a roll of special Santa paper that I'd only use each year for Santa presents and would try very hard to keep hidden in between Christmases. But the paper was flimsy and did a terrible job covering up those awful, annoying, awkward boxes.
Then I decided to make Santa bags! I thought it would be super special and would be something I could easily fold up and keep hidden from year to year. (Nor will it be hard to whip up some new ones in years when a new oddly sized or shaped gift needs figured out...) Today I trekked to the fabric store and found some very charming vintage-y looking cream, green and red striped flannel that was 25% off this close to Christmas. Then I found some very pretty green polyester cording. I bought 2 yards of the felt and 3 yards of cord. When I got home I roughly wrapped each gift in the flannel to make sure I knew where/how to cut it and then I made a couple bags. One bag is slightly over a yard and the other is slightly under. One bag is sort of short and wide and the other a bit more tall and narrow. I wanted the bags to fit this year's gifts, but possibly accommodate next year's, too. The larger bag took almost 2 yards of cording for the draw-string and the smaller one took just over a yard, but could have used a slightly longer chunk if I'd bought more.
I didn't take any step-by-step pics, but certainly can re-make a bag and do so (after Christmas!) :) if anyone's interested. It was a super quick and easy project and I think the boys will LOVE playing with the bags on Christmas day, too. (Plus the bags will make packing up all their stocking stuffers and small toys easier, too, since we'll be at our cabin and have to haul all that stuff home.)
