Kelly’s new piano lessons came with 4 oblong textbooks, which, to my crafty mind, necessitated a bag.  I could have them lying about all week and try to remember to throw them in her backpack, OR, I could do what I do with all the girls’ activities, and create separate bags.  They hang on hooks by the door, and I reference my dry erase board in the morning, calling out which bags should be grabbed.  They fit inside their backpacks to make for easier travel.

I used a coupon and paid about $1.70 for this tote, not my first choice of color, but for $1.70, one can’t be choosy.  So plain.  Oh so horridly plain.  I thought about creating the bag on my own, but in the interest of time, I knew that wasn’t practical.  Hmm…what to do, what to do.  Music notes seemed obligatory, and when I started playing around with fonts, I realized that the “Y” in Kelly WAS a musical note.  Let the tracing begin!  I first merged the letters into cursive, and then I traced the note under the “Y”.

Then I traced the entire thing onto freezer paper, shiny side down.  You could leave your letters separate, but then you’d have to applique them on one-by-one.  Mine would be so wonky by the end, you’d never know what I was spelling.  I had to choose from the fabric I had on hand, and would have preferred a wool felt, but I really liked this fat quarter scrap I had:

Just iron the shiny side down and cut it out (I use tiny, tiny scissors for this kind of detail work).  Should I have used a double-sided applique paper?  YES.  Did I?  No.  You can iron your appliques onto sticky paper that you can then iron onto your final project, making it a lot easier to sew.  Or you can pin the heck out of it, and hope it stays put.  Hmm, cute little applique, but still so boring.  Ovals will be required.

I made a few oval templates on the Cricut, and I wish I would have stacked white-yellow-orange, but in all crafting: hindsight is better left unsaid.  Kelly’s piano lesson books fit in here perfectly.  I hope she likes it.  Her reaction can’t be worse than last week, when after a very exciting first lesson, she came home to practice.  Kelly threw her book to the floor in the first minute of practice, scribbled all over one page, and told me she was quitting.  I did (unfortunately) the first thing that came to mind: shot fire out of my ears, threw my soul against the wall, and turned into a ridiculously cartoon-ish version of my worst self.  Bravo Mommy.  Daddy calmly reminded me that not only is she 4, but she’s the master of finding my buttons.  It wasn’t a blue-ribbon day for either of us.  We apologized the following day, tried again, and she’s been playing away like a tiny maestro, for about 10 minutes per day anyway.  Here’s hoping for the best (in all of us)!

*Update*: When I gave Kelly her bag at school, our conversation went something like this:

Kelly: Where are the lions?

Mommy: Did you mention you wanted lions?

Kelly: No, I just imagined the bag with a lion’s head on one side and a tail coming out the other.

Mommy: Wow, that’s specific, to, um, not have mentioned it.  I turned your “Y” into a musical note.

Kelly: Oh yeah! Your idea is so much better.  It’s for piano!  A music note makes more sense than a lion.

Mommy: Oh good.  I’m glad you like it. (???)