Eli's new "murse"

Ha ha ha. Just kidding. (For those of you who are lost, **coughmomcough** a "murse" is a man purse, or man bag if you will) Well I guess it could be considered a man bag because it IS a bag, and it DOES hold all my little man's important stuff, including (to quote Blue's Clues) his "handy dandy NOTEbook." Ok murse it is ;)

Last weekend my family and I took a mini road trip to Michigan and I was concerned about the 4hr car ride because Eli has never been strapped in his carseat for more than 1-2 hours at a time. I have seen on Pinterest the idea to use a baking sheet to entertain children in the car because it's magnetic and also because it has a lip around the edge to keep items from rolling off the pan, so I picked up a cheapo one from the dollar store, along with some magnetic numbers, cute Thomas the Train puzzle (that I made magnetic by adding magnets to the backs), a notebook with crayons, some colored pipe cleaners, and chalk. I started to grab a bunch of zip lock bags to put everything in but then got to thinking how nice it would be to have everything kept all in one convenient place....and the idea for his "murse" was born. I present to you, Eli's man bag:

Closed and ready for traveling

Opened up, each item in its own ziplock baggy compartment

Lets go mom!

I sewed the ziplock baggies inside the holder so they stay put. I know that plastic baggies aren't the first thing you think of for being the most durable things out there for long term use, especially with something that will have a lot of wear and tear, but I wanted cost effective and most importantly, for it to be super simple. I COULD have made zippered pouches with clear vinyl windows (I had originally contemplated going this route) but again I wanted to stick with practical because lets face it, I didn't want a simple concept of a "busy bag" to end up costing a fortune in materials (zippers). 

I thought I better see how it holds up for our trip and to see if Eli even used it before blogging about it (gosh how embarrassing, I blog about his new tote beforehand and have it fall apart with one use!) and I'm happy to report it held up nicely and he used everything but the chalk (it was too cold outside and I didn't have time to use my chalkboard paint on the baking sheet).

Here he is in action during the 4hr car ride:

At the hotel he'd hold up his notebook and point to something and go "a clue, a clue!" (although it sounded more like "a kwoo, a kwoo" ;)

Pipe cleaners good for making shapes and naming colors. Note to self, always fold the metal ends in on themselves to avoid poking through plastic baggies and little people. Noted. 

Eli counting: " Two, free, six, seven, eight, ten!" Every. Single. Time

All in all, it was the perfect accessory for a quick trip out of town that allowed me to leave his entire toy box at home. Best part, both the "murse" and baking sheet fit nicely in my backpack without taking up a whole lot of space.

Stay tuned to my cousin Beckie's blog InfarrantlyCreative.net this summer for a tutorial on this if you want to make one for your next road trip. Beginner sewers, here's your project!

**Update: Tutorial done! You can find it here. Enjoy!

Toodles!

-Linds