Petite Purse favors

In a couple of weeks I'm hosting a craft retreat/girls' weekend for some friends and family, and I'm really looking forward to it. I wanted to give little "party" favors, and I thought it would be appropriate to give something handmade. So this weekend I've been busy making these adorable little purses.

I used the new Petite Purse die from Stampin' Up!^® along with a variety of card stock colors, Designer Series Paper (DSP) patterns and embellishments. The purses were very easy and quick to assemble; the die cuts out the shape for the purse (with score lines) and the handle from one piece of card stock about 5" x 8-1/2". So I just had to fold, glue, decorate and attach the handle.

For some of the purses I glued the handle to the side of the purse and then added a pearl or rhinestone over it. For others I used brads to attach the handle. I liked using the brads because then the handle could be swiveled back so it was a bit easier to fill the purses. But then I also had the prongs of the brads inside the purse, and sometimes they caught on the goodies I was putting inside the purses.

Speaking of goodies, deciding what to put in the purses was fun, but also a bit challenging since they are small. I finally decided on a lip gloss, two Dove chocolates and a small pad of Post-It notes. (A note about the lip glosses: They are from a company called Crazy Rumors, and they are wonderful. They're vegan, cruelty-free (no animal testing), contain organic ingredients and come in wonderful flavors like Amaretto, French Vanilla, Raspberry Sorbet, Lemonade and many, many more. I highly recommend them!)

The design for the Post-It pad was not my original idea. I had received a small pad like this from another Stampin' Up! demonstrator at the 2010 convention. (Unfortunately I don't know the demonstrator's name, so I can't give more specific credit.)

The size of the Post-It pad is about 1-3/8" x 1-7/8". The cover for the pad is a piece of glossy white card stock 2-1/16" wide by 5" long. It is scored at 1-1/4", 1-11/16", 3-1/4" and 3-11/16". I removed the backing and stuck the pad on the non-glossy side of the card stock. I folded over the flaps and wrapped a 1" x 4-1/2" strip of DSP around the pad, gluing down the strip where the ends overlapped. Then I adhered the owl to the DSP.

It was tight, but I did manage to fit everything inside the purse. (The lip gloss is underneath the two chocolates.)

I do have one little confession: I worked really hard to coordinate the card stock, DSP, Post-It pad and lip gloss for each purse. It didn't always work out perfectly, and I'm sure no one will ever notice, but it was fun. I can't wait to give these out at the retreat; I hope everyone enjoys them!

Thanks for stopping by!