* Homemade Personalized Ballet Shoe Bag

My sweet little "C" (age 4) is starting her 

very first ballet class this week. 

She's SUPER excited, her mama kinda is too!

(Back story: I studied ballet/jazz/tap/toe for 11 years 

and did a bit of dancing in high school and college

Her daddy and I are taking Latin and Salsa dancing this summer)

We went on a special shopping trip to the store

to pick up her leotard, tu-tu, shoes, and tights. 

Every little dancer needs a special bag

to keep her clothes and shoes in and "C" is a "purse girl." 

So, I made her a pink dance bag of her very own. 

I made one of these 5 years ago when her big sister 

took her first dance class - 

she quit after a year but it was fun while it lasted. 

I still have her cute little bag and some adorable photos for my scrapbooks! 

First, we needed a good photo of "C" wearing her 

special ballet costume, with a neutral background.

We did a mini photo shoot in the hallway

against a white door and tried a couple of poses. 

We picked her favorite pose, then printed it 

out on T-Shirt transfer paper.

Because we were planning to use a dark pink bag,

I ironed the image onto some white muslin

(so it wouldn't be too dark) 

If you were using a lighter colored bag, you could

save yourself a step and iron the picture directly onto the bag!

Ironing on the kitchen granite works like a charm 

with the transfer film and yes, I use an old

Marshmallow Fluff jar as my kitchen pencil jar. 

Out-of-focus, close-up photo of the 

"Ironed-On-Muslin Ballerina."

Then, I carefully trimmed the ballerina and used 

Fabric Fusion glue because I didn't feel like 

sewing it onto the bag. 

After she was glued down, 

I hand-sewed on a bit of pale pink tulle

to make a little 3-D tu-tu for her.

(Sorry about the side-ways photo!)

On her sister's bag, I even added a silver glitter glue tiara

but because C's hands were over her head, there wasn't enough room. 

Then, I found some pale pink satin ribbon in my stash,

it reminded me of my toe-shoes so I tied a big fluffy bow

and hand-sewed it to the bag so it wouldn't come un-tied. 

Another view of the ballerina so you can see how her skirt is attached.

Voila! 

The finished ballet bag, and my little ballerina ready for our first class. 

I have a dance teacher friend from college who is expecting her first daughter soon,

I'm thinking she's going to need one of these little bags too!

Happy Crafting!

Fondly,

pink and green mama