Frozen DIY art bag

Yesterday we went to a Frozen themed birthday party for a little girl turning four. And because I love themed birthday parties I decided I needed to make a custom gift (even though we had a crazy, busy week and I didn't have much time...).

Remember the art bag I made for my daughter last Christmas? I wanted to make something similar, but since I was pressed for time I decided to simplify.

First, I hopped onto Pinterest and searched for free printables. There are zillions, you just need to decided what you want to include in your art bag. I chose some stationery and printed enough pages to make two small notebooks (one lined, the other blank): 

 To make them more Frozen-like, I glued small white and ice-blue crystals in the notebook covers:

To the notebooks I added a series of other things, like coloring pages, crowns to cut out and assemble, mazes, etc. I printed everything in lightweight cardboard and then tied with pink & silver ribbons (most of this was made at night, so the pictures are not very bright).

I used a piece of sky blue felt and cut a rectangle (wide enough to fit the materials above) and two thin strips of felt: the "ingredients" to make the bag. I pinned the strips of felt to form the handles, as shown below and sewed them in place:

Then I folded in in half and sewed the sides to create. Once you turn it inside out, you have a bag:

I really wanted to add snow flakes as decoration, but it would have taken me a lot of time to cut them just right, so instead I used my Sizzix to create glitter stars in red, blue and silver, and glued them over the felt. 

As a finishing touch, I added a Frozen tag (also printed off Pinterest and laminated to make it sturdier. 

To complete the art bag I bought a set of coloring pencils and added a Frozen tag and a matching pink bow. I also made a necklace using my cupcake topper necklaces tutorial but somehow it was left out of the picture below and I forgot to take a photo of it separately.

Here is the whole set already tucked into the bag and ready for wrapping:

I also created a homemade gift envelope to wrap the bag in style but I'll share that tutorial on another day because I still need to download the photos. 

In the meantime, enjoy this cute and pretty inexpensive way to create the perfect gift for a themed birthday party. And when the art supplies are gone, the recipients still have the bags. And if they are like my daughter, they love bags. Especially if embellished with glittery shapes.