The "Jen" Beach Bag/Honeymoon Survival Kit

          A few weeks ago one of my very best friends Jen got married in Lake Tahoe, Ca.  Right now she is in Fiji enjoying her honeymoon with her new husband Sean.  I flew out to Reno and met Lonnie in Tahoe on Thursday and we enjoyed the weekend together and had an amazing time at the wedding.  I wanted to share this with all of you because I think I came up with a pretty great idea!  Lonnie and I are both going to be students here in the upcoming fall and we really didn’t have a ton of money to spend on a gift for them, because we spent it all on getting out there for the wedding (totally worth it, btw).  Anyway, I wanted to get them something that was thoughtful and creative, because being creative really helps me stay sane!  So I thought, how about a honeymoon survival kit?  I thought, well, she’s getting married in Lake Tahoe, on the beach, she’s going to Fiji (beach) so I thought I would sew her a beach bag and fill it with honeymoon goodies for the two of them. 

I started at the fabric store and had the HARDEST time picking out fabric for this woman. Jeesh, she was a hard sell.  I decided to make it super “Jen” with flair of P. Luiz since it was in fact, my design.  I did not use a template; I just got inspiration from a bag I liked that I thought would fit towels, magazines, camera, etc.  Lonnie and I went to the store and filled it with trashy mags for her, a motorcycle mag for him, burts bee’s chap stick, an underwater disposable camera, gum, and a small tube of sunscreen.  Instead of giving her the bag with goodies at the wedding I decided to give it to her the day before because we were hanging out on the beach and paddle boarding, floating etc.  She said she loved it and was so appreciative, but I was hoping that she wasn’t just saying that to make me feel good. 

Well… I didn’t think much of it, I was so happy that she liked it and we just went on with our day and told them we would see them at the wedding.  We showed up at the wedding and guess what was hanging from her chair?!  Her beach bag!!  It was so amazing for the beach bag to make it’s début at the wedding!  She used it to keep all of her wedding essentials in it!  (i.e, spare flats, make-up, all the stuff that doesn’t fit into your delicate wedding clutch)  It was the biggest compliment and it literally made me grin from ear to ear all night.  Making gifts is so much more satisfying than buying something for a friend or family.  It is more personal, and I believe the person feels extremely special because of it.  Sure, there are some stitching mistakes, however it wasn’t made in China and it was made with love, and NO ONE ELSE HAS IT:):)  How cool is that?  Share with me your creative, inspirational gift ideas please, thanks!