Summer Bag

So, I love bags. I can never have enough. If I had the money to spend I would probably want a new bag every few weeks.

It's summer time and I went to my handbag basket in search of a nice summer-ish bag.  I couldn't find anything that excited me so I decided to go to Ebay. Some people sell really nice bags for cheap so I knew my chances were good at finding something that would satisfy me (temporarily- ha). Sadly, one bag caught my eye and was not in my price range. I was looking for something LESS than $10 with my shipping included but the bag that caught my eyes was going to be $34!! No matter how much I loved it I could not allow myself to spend $34 on something so frivolous. 

Here is a pic of the bag I wanted. It comes in turquoise, canary yellow, brown, & wine.

 

I knew I wasn't going to be able to buy this bag. I didn't even bother asking Mike. Still my mind was stuck on it. I decided that the only thing I could do would be to gather some items and make this bag myself. I had seen a straw bag for $2.50 at Target in their dollar section- lined in your choice of pink, green, or blue. Next I would need to find a scarf to drape around it. I checked THREE different thrift stores and nothing excited me. I put the bag on hold until this past weekend when we were in Amish Country and I went into one of my favorite stores and they had scarves for $2 each. YAY!!! Since they were so cheap I bought two of them- a pink and a brown. 

Here is what I started with:

I found a piece of sticky velcro and added it to the inside of my bag so that the bag would stay closed. Then I tied the pink scarf around the bag very tightly so that it would stay without having to be stuck down with something permanent. 

Here is what I had when I was done:

I still need to figure out how to embellish it with beads but I haven't had a chance to get to a craft store. Even without the extra embellishments I like the bag just fine.

So Instead of spending $34 I spent $6.50 and with mine I have two options- pink or brown. Not to mention the various scarves I already owned...