DIY Hard Shell Travel Case

Happy Thursday!  I know I say this every week, but boy do the days fly by!  At least the weather is nice... or at least it is where I live.  Anywho- today I want to share with you a project I have been meaning to get working on for quite some time now.

Let me explain:  In high school and college, I spent a low enough amount of money that I could keep track of all my spending in my head and by frequently checking online.  Well, now that I am married, it is harder to keep track of all the money going in, going out, from his card, from mine- it's a lot!  My husband keeps track of expenses using a computer tool, but we have to keep receipts to enter them in manually.  So... for the first time in my life I have to save my receipts.

Thus far, I haven't been doing so well.  Because of that, I decided to take my own spin on the travel baby wipe cases and make myself something to hold receipts as soon as I get into the car.  Clever, right?  I (and my husband) are hoping it works.

{I love how "adult" it looks- no baby wipes here}

{How to Make it}

Gather your materials and a hot glue gun.  From start to finish this took me less than 20 minutes!

I wont go into too much detail, since this basic idea can be found on "how to decorate baby wipe cases" tutorials.  I will however; give you a few hints on things I learned along the way that might help.

First, cut 2 pieces of fabric slightly larger than the case front and back.  Proceed to glue them directly to the case.

This is where mine is different:  Most of the tutorials you see have a piece of ribbon running along the edge to hide the end of the fabric.  I did not want that look, so I made my fabric long enough to fold into the inside of the case.  Before doing this, make sure your fabric is thin enough that the case will close!

{I let the fabric pieces overlap where the front and back meet *just a little* so that no plastic could be seen}

Second,  Finish gluing down all of the edges.  After I had already glued mine on, I wished that I had given myself more fabric to work around the closure clasps.

Third,  Attach any ribbons, buttons or other embellishments that you desire.  As I have mentioned a time or two: I love lace!  So, that is what I used.  It is entirely up to you.

Finish it off by cutting any loose threads or in my case, actually cutting the fabric off of the clasps.  I tested to see that it would close (because of thickness) but did not check the clasp part- oops!  Oh well, it was an easy fix.

{That's it!}

Really.  Quick and easy and really cute (at least, I think so!)  I am using mine to hold receipts so that they don't get lost in my purse, the bag or my backseat but you can use it for anything!  For some really neat ideas check out a post from Tip Junkie.  She has 12 awesome ideas including my favorite, a travel earring case!  I guess these cases aren't just for babies anymore.

P.S.  Are you loving the fabric I used?  Check out this post to see another project I did using fabrics from the same set.  I can't get enough of them!

Happy Crafting,
Kelsie Ann

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