Mini-Melon Bag

It's been a while since my last post, but that doesn't mean I have been short on ideas!  Today's Retrocraft uses one of my favorite recyclables - CDs!!!  This mini-handbag is perfect for little girls, especially as we move into the summer months.  What goes great with summer?  Watermelon, of course!

To get started, you will need the following:

A used CD (now that my taxes are filed, I used my TurboTax CD)
Scrap paper

Black felt tip pen or marker
Scissor
Utility knife
Ruler
Cardboard (like the kind you get from a cereal box)
Glue
Clothespins
Felt in green, white and pink
Wide nail
Decorative rope (I harvested mine from an old gift bag)
Velcro

Start by cutting your CD in half.  To figure out the location of the CD's midline, lay the CD on the top of your scrap paper and trace around the outer edge using your felt tip pen.  Cut out the circle using your scissor.  Fold the circle exactly in half, lining up the edges.  Lay the paper half circle on top of the CD, again, lining up the edges.  Using your felt tip pen, trace the straight edge of the paper to mark the midline of the CD.  Use your ruler and craft knife to separate the CD into 2 halves.  This will take several passes with your knife.  You may also need to bend the CD to crack it along the score line. 

Measure the arc of one of the CD halves.  Make note of the measurement.  Cut a strip of cardboard whose length is equal the measurement you've just taken; the width will be two inches.  Draw a line along the length of the cardboard that is 1/2" from the left edge.  Draw a similar line along 1/2" from the right edge.  Using the back edge of your utility knife blade, score each line to make it easy to fold.  Fold each edge toward the center of the cardboard length.  Using your scissor, cut along both edges every 1/2" (see photo.)

Working with one edge of the cardboard, apply glue to the first few "tabs" you have just created.  Position the cardboard around the arc of one of the CD halves.  Adhere the "tabs" and use a clothespin to hold the tabs in place.  Apply glue to the last few tabs along the same edge and adhere those tabs to the CD.  Again, use a clothespin to hold the tabs in place.  Allow the glue to adhere for a few minutes and then begin to apply glue to the tabs along the center of the strip.  As you apply the glue to each tab, adhere the tab to the CD.  (Try to use a fast drying glue.  You may have to hold each tab down for a minute for it to adhere well. 

While you allow the glue to dry, place the other CD half along one edge of the green felt.  Trace its shape using your felt tip pen.  Reposition the CD on the felt and trace its shape again.  Repeat with the white felt. Trace 4 halves on the pink felt.  Cut the halves out of each piece of felt.  Be sure to cut inside of the marker lines you've drawn so that your felt pieces do not have any traces of ink.  Also cut a strip of pink felt 1" wide and as long as your length of cardboard.

Turn back to the CD half you were working with earlier.  Glue one of the pink halves to the inside of the CD half.  Also glue the pink strip to the inside of your cardboard length.  Glue another one of the pink halves to the other CD half.  Align this second CD half with the unworked edge of the cardboard length, felt side facing inward.  Apply glue to the first and last tabs and adhere the tabs to the CD as you did before.  When those are affixed, continue to adhere the other tabs.  Allow everything to dry.

When dry, adhere the green halves to the outside of the bag.  Cut a length of green felt that is slightly wider than 1" and 1/2" longer than the length of the cardboard.  Center and glue the strip along the outside edge of the bag.  Trim the corners at each end, turn the ends inward and glue in place.  Use clothespins to hold the glued ends until the glue dries.  Cut 1/4" off of the straight edge of each half of white felt.  Glue each in place to the outside of the bag lining up the straight edges.  Glue the pink halves in place over the white halves, making sure not to overlap the white completely so that some of the white "rind" shows.  Turn the straight edges of the pink felt under and glue in place; use clothespins to hold in place until the glue dries.  While the glue is drying, use the felt tip marker to draw "seeds" on the pink felt on the one side of the bag. 

Mark a spot on the green felt covered cardboard strip, about 1" from one end, centering the spot 1/2" from each edge.  Do the same 1" from the other end.  Bore a hole at each spot, first using your craft knife and then using your wide nail.  Thread each end of your rope through the holes.  (The holes should not be wider than the width of the rope.)  Once you've passed your rope through each hole, tightly knot each end to keep the rope in place.  If you are concerned about the knot coming undone, you might be able to burn the knot to using a match to "seal" the knot.  Be careful not to burn the bag you've just made.

Next, using the half circle you template created from the scrap paper, trace a half circle on the remaining piece of pink felt.  Flip the template and position it 1" apart from the half circle you just drew.  Trace the template.  Draw lines to join the two halves you just drew to create an oblong and cut out the oblong piece.  Align the oblong piece on top of the "seedless" pink half of the bag and glue in place.  The oblong piece will now fold over the open section of the bag to create a flap.  Use your marker to draw seeds on the outside of the oblong piece.  Use a small piece of velcro to create a closure for the flap. 

Viola!  You are done and your little princess has a great new mini-bag to take on summer vacation.  The bag is small and isn't designed to hold alot but it can certainly hold crayons!