diy color sorting gift set

I whipped up this adorable color sorting set for a dear little back in January. It can be used in a number of ways and packs a pretty punch.

I found these sweet wood tags at Michael's for $1.99 for a set of 10. I purchased two packs to make the color set worthwhile. After rifling through my fabric stash for happy fabrics I picked out four prints and matched my paints to them.

To paint the shapes, set out some wax paper, grab a brush, and give each side a coat or two, allowing dry time between coats. Takes less than half an hour to dry. I aimed for a color wash so used very little paint.

The sorting mat was made by cutting rectangles from each piece of fabric that measured about 3"X6" each. Use a sewing machine to stitch each piece of fabric together in a row, iron each seam flat as you go. Place finished patchwork right-side up and lay a neutral piece of fabric over the top, pin and trim. Bring to sewing machine and stitch around three sides. Turn right-side out and iron flat. Fold in the edges of the open side and iron flat. Put the whole shebang back into the sewing machine and give it a all a zig-zag stitch around to add a bit of decorative flair.

To make the bag, I used this project. Use a piece of fabric that is about 12"X8". If you want the bag to have the happy bit of patchwork on it, fold the fabric in half before stitching into a bag and randomly stitch fabric scraps into a happy pattern.

For presentation, roll your mat up, pop it into the bag along with the wood shapes and give it away! Enjoy! I hope this inspires you.