Complete first Pinterest project, check!

Inspiring idea from Pinterest, originally pinned at http://www.etsy.com/listing/85900364/terrycloth-toothbrush-and-paste-travel

Since I am a HUGE procrastinator, I am thrilled to have completed my first project that I found on Pinterest. If you haven’t discovered pinterest.com, then you should. And then you’ll quickly change any profile with your hobbies to include “surfing Pinterest”. It’s kind of addictive but also inspiring if you like art, photography, crafts, decorating, or anything else on planet Earth. I am excited that my first Pinterest undertaking is complete!

These handy and cute toothpaste travel pouches are great. What junior high girl doesn’t want this cutie in her camp bag? We made them just a few days before mission trip and loved the idea that they can be thrown in the washer with all of the other dirty laundry when the kids come home.

Here’s my finished product:

Are you impressed? Just a little??

I have a real problem. Whenever I see cool artistic things, I refuse to buy them because “I can do that!” The problem is that 99.9% of the “I can do that” things never get done. Oh, I buy the stuff and have great plans. The fact that I bought the stuff for this project and then finished it is what’s startling and noteworthy. So noteworthy that I felt  compelled to post it for the world to see!

Here’s how we did it…We have a small group of middle school girls that comes over each week for crafts and Bible study. That’s where my inspiration met followthrough! I purchased washcloths at Wal-Mart in various colors. They were $1.98 each.

This project only required a few items that you might have already:

washcloths, ribbon or rick-rack, needle to hand-sew or sewing machine, pins, tape measure, and coordinating thread

Note: Wash and dry your washcloths before you begin project. This will avoid shrinkage and puckering after they are sewn.

Washcloths are 12 x 12 inches

Wal-Mart Mainstays brand was the cheapest and most colorful washcloth we found

We prefer the way ribbon looks, but rick-rack holds up a little better when washed.

Step one: Fold over washcloth and pin in place.

Fold over and measure it so that toothbrush and toothpaste will fit well when sewn. We made our pocket about 3 1/2 inches.

Step two: Sew! Sew easy….You can hand-sew or use a machine. It took about 5 minutes to complete each toothbrush holder sewing with the machine. Hand-sewing was more practical because we had a group of girls and we wanted each girl to finish on her own. Some girls learned to hand-sew for the first time….it’s a basic skill we should all learn. 🙂

Nicky hand-sews her craft

Girls hand-sew their travel pouches. Although the photo is blurry, you can see that we have snacks!

Step 3: Secure 26 inches of ribbon/rick-rack in place (on outside of pouch) 3 1/2 inches from bottom. Tack it down in the middle of your ribbon length (13 inch mark) wrap around travel pouch, and tie a bow.  Trim to desired length.

The end! Now you have a cute travel pouch for your toothbrush and toothpaste. When it gets yucky, throw in the washer and dryer. I have now completed my first Pinterest project and documented as proof!