Playing the Past Junior Badge Girl Scout Craft Idea: Recycled Denim Jean Purses Eco Friendly Craft

In some of our recent Girl Scout crafting classes here in Chantilly, Virginia we started making these adorable denim jean recycled purses!

This is a great project to work towards your Girl Scout Playing the Past Junior badge! Brownies this could be a fun idea for Its Your Planet Love It. I am sure it can be worked into several journeys and badges! This is eco friendly and a great way to re-use old jeans.

Supplies:

Jean pocket
ribbon for your purse strap
pony beads (or any beads with slightly bigger hole would be even easier!)
fabric scissors
fabric scraps and a button (optional if you want to cut out a fabric flower or applique to embellish the purse pocket)
Hot glue gun with adult help or sewing (for the strap and the optional fabric flower)

How to Make:

Start by cutting out your jean pocket. See the picture here for the size and shape. It is roughly 12 inches long by 5 inches wide. (The width is the width of the pocket so this may vary slightly). Make sure (as seen in picture here) that you leave about an inch of fabric on top of the pocket because you will need that for gluing/sewing on the strap.
Start to fringe your purse! Cut long skinny strips from underneath the pocket.
Once you have all your fringes cut you will string your beads on. A trick with putting these on is to cut a triangle shape at the bottom of each fringe to allow an easier way to string on the beads.
Use your imagination! You can string a few beads on each or alternation and create a pattern.
Hot glue or sew on the strap to the top of the bag. (We made ours a messenger strap so measure around your shoulder before cutting it!)
Optional: We had little flower patterns made from poster board and fabric scraps for the girls to trace and cut. Then they chose a button for the center of the flower.