Christmas I Spy Bags

I have a long list of Christmas crafting that I want to get to this year.  The time is just passing too quickly, and I don’t know if I will be able to get them all completed and make sure that I’m ready for Christmas too.  One of the projects I was determined to finish were these Christmas I spy bags.  We attend church every sunday and I am always trying to keep my kids quiet and entertained.  I thought these I spy bags would be really fun to take with us to church during the Christmas season.

These are just made out of felt.  I bought a couple of sheets of green and red felt at the craft store.  I used a piece of card stock and cut out a Christmas tree shape.  Then I traced it onto my felt and cut it out.  Make sure and cut out 2 trees.  One for the top and one for the bottom.

I cut a triangle shape out of the center of the top felt Christmas tree.  This will be where all the spying will happen! 🙂

At the fabric store you can find sheets of thin plastic.  I cut out a square piece that would cover the triangle that I cut out of my felt Christmas tree.

This is my most important tip for this whole project.  To sew the plastic to the felt, cover it with paper before you sew it.  I tried to sew it without the paper and the plastic kept getting stuck to my machine or my presser foot.  I used freezer paper and sandwiched the plastic piece between the felt and the paper.  You can see that I drew the cut out onto my paper so I knew where the edge was and I could leave 1/4 inch or so for sewing.  Once the plastic was sewn, I gently removed the paper and trimmed off the extra plastic.

I laid my other (bottom) Christmas tree onto the top Christmas tree.  Make sure to keep the plastic in the middle.  Then pin the two trees together and sew around the edges.  I left about 1/4 inch around the edge.  Make sure to leave an opening so you can fill the I spy bag.  I left the bottom of the trunk open.

Don’t let this somewhat ok looking finished sewing job fool you.  I did a lot of trimming around the edge of the tree once I had sewn it to make it look even.  I am not the best seamstress and most times can’t sew a straight line.  But kids don’t mind if it’s not perfect.  🙂

The whole reason I wanted to make Christmas I spy bags was because I saw these adorable buttons at Michaels.  I couldn’t resist the cuteness!

I put about 9 or 10 buttons in the bag and then filled it about half full of poly pellets.  You can find them in the doll section of the craft store (usually).  Make sure not to over fill your I spy bags.  I’ve done that before and it makes it hard to find the fun stuff.  Sew up the bottom (or opening) and that’s it!

My daughter has been loving her Christmas I spy bag.

I had enough buttons left over that I decided to make a stocking Christmas I spy bag too!  I knew my kids would be fighting over it, so I went ahead and made 2.

These bags have already made several trips around town.  My intention was to use them on Sundays, but they have been great as I’ve run errands to keep the kids busy.

In fact, I even made a tiny version for my baby.  Perfect for her little hands.

If you want a version that you could use all year round, check out these character I spy bags I made a few years ago!

Happy Spying!

Liz