Make it: Palm Print Shopper bag and matching clutch

I have a girls holiday booked in June and I just can't find a beach bag I like that is the right size and light enough to roll up in my suitcase. I am too impatient to wait until all the summer stuff is in the shops so as usual I turned to my sewing machine to solve my problem. We have just had this awesome palm print fabric in at Sew Crafty HQ and I knew as soon as I saw it that it was the one I had to use for this project. Then I couldn't decide if I wanted a shopper style or a clutch bag, so I made both!

Make it: Pastel and Neon Clutch Bag

It feels like handbag central here this week, Wednesday's post was how to organise and today you can add to your collection with this DIY pastel and neon colour block clutch bag. A simple colourful make to brighten up our rainy Easter weekend. I have seen loads of these peek-a-boo bags around lately and I was itching to use my Teflon sewing machine foot again. 

You will need: A bright coloured zip 14"/16", an A4 sheet of leatherette, two A4 sheets of clear vinyl plastic, a sewing machine with a Teflon foot (or some Scotch magic tape stuck to the bottom of your zipper foot) You could sew this project by hand with embroidery floss too if you don't have a machine.

I picked up these sheets of pastel leatherette on Ebay and the sparkle plastic was from a shower curtain I found in the pound shop a while back.

Step 1. Start by cutting your leatherette in half long ways.
Step 2. Attach the zip by sewing along one edge of the leatherette. Go slow and steady, as you won't be able to use pins.
Step 3. It should look a little something like this.
Step 4. Line up the second piece of leatherette and sew in place on the other side of the zip.
Step 5. Take your two pieces of vinyl and sew them to the bottom edge of the leatherette.
Step 6. Sew it to the inside and if you like use a zigzag or other decorative stitch. It will help it look neater if your line isn't very straight. Repeat for the other side. Again, go slowly as the pieces may want to move around.

Step 7. Undo the zip to over half way undone and fold in half with the right sides facing each other.
Step 8. With the bag inside out sew all the way around the three sides of the bag with a straight stitch. Try to sew the corners slightly rounded or sew across them to help when it is turned through.
Step 9. Trim away any excess edges and the ends of the zip.
Step 10. Turn your new clutch right side out and fill it with loads of pretty stuff.

I know the clear section at the bottom won't be for everyone, but you could flip it so that the clear section is at the top? For me it will help stop me from carrying around too much junk in my bag on nights out! I love how simple and quick this was. I think I might make a few more slightly bigger and use them as fun document holders for work and for my office at home. They would definitely cheer up boring VAT returns!

I do hope you all have a fabulous Bank Holiday Weekend
Sammy xxx



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Make it: Handbag Storage Solution

This little area in our home has been waiting for a makeover for so long so when Space Station Storage got in touch asking for some ideas for their Storage Solutions Project I knew exactly which space needed attention. I wanted to create an attractive handbag storage solution worthy of any walk-in wardrobe for under £50. I have so many handbags I wanted to have a fun, tidy space to store them in.

Live it: Sammy's Las Vegas Adventure

Last week, as you may know if you follow me on Instagram, I was away for a hen weekend ( bachelorette ) for a friend of ours in Las Vegas. It kind of goes without saying that we all had an amazing time, I thought I would share some of my highlights with you.

Hotels / Casinos / Hotels

We stayed at The Signature at the MGM Grand. Three golden sky scrapers in the grounds of the epic MGM Grand Resort. We were just off the Vegas strip with an air con walkway between us and the MGM casino. In the UK we would maybe pop to a hotel restaurant to have dinner but in Las Vegas visiting the other hotels and casinos is encouraged, many of them have top restaurants, shopping malls and attractions that are designed to draw you in to spend time and money inside. 

Many of the hotels in Vegas have such amazing themes with epic attention to detail. The Hotel opposite ours was New York, New York. The frontage of which is a replica of the Manhattan skyline including a roller-coaster. 

Every hotel had its own casino, an epic floor layout of slot machines, craps tables and roulette wheels spinning 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

The Strip by day is spectacular, but by night it takes on a neon life of its own.

Food Glorious Food

If you are not a foodie person, you are going to be disappointed in Las Vegas. There is every taste catered for from sweet to savoury, sometimes both in one go. From high flying 5 star cuisine to your colour choice of M&M, you can eat anything at pretty much any hour of the day here. 

Drinks are just as crazy, Slushy ice drinks come with a shot of rum or tequila if you prefer? A small is a large and a large is a bucket!

As well as breakfast for breakfast you can have lunch, dinner and dessert for breakfast at all you can eat buffets.  Key-lime pie at 9am anyone?

My favourite meal has to be our last mornings breakfast at Serendipity 3. The restaurant is cute and quirky with a menu to match. My chocolate peanut butter milkshake and saints and sinners French toast were to die for, Amazing!

Shop 'Till You Drop
The phrase 'Money can't buy everything' does not ring true here. You can literally buy anything if you have enough money, it is a place where tacky and opulent go hand in hand.

From spiral escalators to make-up vending machines, Vegas is a place where the bazaar and unimaginable are in full practice. A place where a shop selling bacon plasters is opposite an Art gallery next door to Gucci!

As you can imagine I was loving it and have spent the past six months saving hard to be able to afford to pick up some special bits and bobs to bring home from the states. Including items from Kate Spade, Rebecca Minkoff, Michael Kors, Tarte, Victoria Secret, BKR, EOS, GlamGlow, Diptyque and Bath and Bodyworks. 

Sights and Sounds

Shopping is not just about buying in Vegas, it is an experience like no other. The malls in the hotels are like movie sets. Both Caesars Palace and The Venetian have sky painted ceilings and an amazing array of designer stores.

The Chandelier bar at the swanky Cosmopolitan hotel was just so beautiful. Our pre dinner cocktails were made all that more amazing by sitting inside this giant crystal curtain and the view from the Top of the World restaurant at the top of the Stratosphere tower was one of the most epic sites I have ever seen, The food was pretty spectacular too! 

We were lucky enough to get to see a couple of shows whilst we were there too, The Circ du Soleil show LOVE (set to the music of The Beatles) was astounding and we got a chance to spend our Saturday night dressed as Britney Spears whilst watching Britney Spears!

If nights out or shopping are not your thing try a Pool Party, we visited Rehab at the Hard Rock Hotel and had a crazy, crazy day.

Las Vegas continues to be one of my favourite places on earth, it is a crazy, excessive, extravagant, opulent, epic place. I am starting to save now to head back there some day, I am already excited at the thought of being there again.

I hope you enjoyed that little peek into my long weekend adventure in Las Vegas. Have you ever been? Do you want to take a trip there? What's on your Vegas to-do list? Let me know in the comments below.

I'm still recovering from the holiday blues...

Sammy xxx

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