Girl Birthday Present, 100% made by me! Includes bag tutorial at the end

Jackson got invited to one of his girlfriend's birthday parties, to be held today.
I knew C, like most kids, has a lot of toys, and since Christmas had just past, I knew her stash had increased, just as my boys had.
I wanted to make something for C, but more then just an initial tee. I was blog surfing one day and came across this cute bag. I had bookmarked it, keeping it for "someday" when I knew I'd just need a bag like that.
As I was in Wal-Mart, buying some interfacing and wonder under, I saw the tan tote bags used in that project and thought, "Oh, finally a time to make that project." However, WM did not have a smaller sized bag, and I felt the larger one was just too big for a girl only turning six. So, I continued to the interfacing section and got what I needed. Then, my eye wandered to the shelf below the interfacing and I found some fabric just like that used in the totes...my mind started reeling. I could MAKE a bag, making it easy to actually applique and not just use heat n bond. It wouldn't be hard. So, along with my other "much needed" WM purchases, a 1/2 yard of the fabric went into my cart.
Once home, I started thinking of how I'd make the bag. I finally decided to do it a little different then the bag that gave me inspiration as I had two fabrics I could incorporate.
I got to work and here is my final product:Then, I worked on a coordinating shirt, trying a different look (rectangle instead of circle on the outside...man, I live on the edge!):
And then I got carried away. Last night, as the boys watched their boy cartoons and played Wii, I made bows. I *may* have gotten a little carried away and made about 15. Before you go thinking I am an overachiever, just note, the bows were mostly just an alligator clip covered in fabric with a small bow hot glued on top, no sewing required. Takes about less then one minute each and I used only ribbons from my ever growing stash. Most of the ribbons were given to me free from various scrapbooking events. If you've ever been to one, you know how American Crafts ribbons winds up in everybody's goodie bags.
As I was searching for a glue stick, I found some slightly bigger bows I'd made a while back and had never finished, so I finished them up and added them to the mix.
To "display" them in the bag, I made a loop at the top of a long piece of ribbon, hot glued the two ends together, stuck a bigger bow in it, and attached all the bows. They are super cute all lined up.
Oh, and because C parts her hair on the same side as me, and uses one clip to pull back her bangs, I made sure that the party hat embellishment I put on one went the "right" way to be up when she clips it in.

I folded the shirt, put the Strawberry Shortcake Polly pockets type doll we bought (with an all new 11 minute dvd!) in, carefully rolled the ribbons, and gently put it all in the new personalized bag. My gift was complete...if you'd like to purchase a bag and coordinating shirt, check out my etsy shop here: Little Dude Duds If you really want some hairbows, I can make those as well, but they aren't listed in my shop.

Now, here is a quick tutorial on how I made the bag:

1. Cut your fabric into 12x12 inch squares (you need two and FYI, you can do whatever size you want, that is just what I did)
   
2. iron interfacing onto the wrong side of one piece of fabric (if using a lighter weight fabric, use a heavier interfacing to give it some stability)
3. Cut out the design you want to applique on your shirt and then DO IT.
4. Sew the bottom of the bag together, then go press it to make it look nice and professional.
5. Sew the edges and go press again. I know that the store bought bags have a triangle sewn into the bottom, but because i sewed the fabric on the bottom, I didn't want to, and it's my bag so I will do what I want.
6. While you are at the iron, fold the top edge over once, about a 1/4 to 1/2 an inch. Press. Then, fold it over again, about 1/2 an inch. Press.
   
7. Go sew the top edge hem of the bag, what you just folded over twice.
8. Measure some ribbon (or whatever you want to use as a handle) and mark on the inside of the bag where to place it. I did about two inches from the side of the bag.
   
9. Sew the handles on. I started at the bottom, and right along the seam I sewed to create a hem I sewed the ribbon, then I went up at an angle to create the first part of the X. Then I sewed across the of the bag/ribbon, then down at an angle to create the other part of the X. I repeated for all for ribbon edges.
10. Press one last time and you are done!