Another Gift Crossed Off the List

I bought Simon a set of wooden blocks for Christmas this year. I read in some literature I got from the pediatrician that kids don't need any fancy toys at this age. They really only need balls, puzzles and blocks. I've embraced this philosophy, although Simon has plenty of other toys from his grandparents. Lots and lots of toys.

Anyway, I thought these blocks looked fun and that Simon would enjoy them. The only problem was that they came in this flimsy, disposable plastic packaging. I don't know what the manufacturers are thinking will happen to these blocks once they are opened, but I imagined them strewn all over my house and floating around the toy box. So, I bought the blocks with the intention of making a bag to store them in. Last night I finally got around to starting it, and I was able to finish it during Simon's nap this afternoon.





You may recognize the fabric as something that I got from my grandmother's stash. The flowers and the slug had buttons sewn on as embellishment, but I removed them (choking hazards) and replaced them with some non-life-threatening embroidery. This was my first drawstring bag and I made it up as I went along. It was a pretty simple process. The only snag I hit was that I didn't think that the blocks would take up much more space when not packaged (duh!). Thankfully, I made the bag much larger than I thought was necessary and it ended up being just the right size. 100 wooden blocks are pretty heavy - Simon is going to have a hard time lugging them around. Maybe I'll keep half of them stored somewhere else until he's a little bigger so he doesn't get discouraged.