About

Cost: $ $ $ $ $

Difficulty: • • • • •

Time: 45 mins

What goes on in a teen's mind? Plenty!
We have a saying in our house “You’ve got big ideas”. This applies mostly to our sixteen year old but often applies to our 12 year old, who is fast approaching his own teen years. Teens in general are full of big ideas and emotions. So, why not celebrate this part of teen reality with a fun messenger bag, It’s easy as pie to create and makes a bold statement no matter what's on the owner’s mind.

Materials List:
Canvas Messenger bags (I get mine through Dharma Trading)
Shirt Cardboard (for protective inserts)
Pencils
Permanent markers
Head silhouette
Mind domains image - http://www.fotosearch.com/IMZ366/cir0120/

Posted by Doris B. from Huntington, West Virginia, United States • Published 30th August 2010 • See Doris B.'s 16 projects »

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HylianWriter534 favorited Mindful Messenger Bag 21 Dec 05:01
Anne Mary F. favorited Mindful Messenger Bag 05 Dec 12:16
Eleanor favorited Mindful Messenger Bag 28 Feb 17:51

Step 1
1) Google the following: “Vintage Brain illustrations”. A bounty of images will appear under the images search area. I got mine from: www.photosearch.com. I increased the size of the human head to fill a standard 8 ½” x 11” sheet of printer paper. I also printed the image out in color. Cut the head out in order to use it as a tracing template. Now, lay the paper image on top of a sheet of shirt cardboard or any thin cardboard that you may have lying around. Trace and cut the image out in cardboard. If you need help with the placement of the facial features: eyes, mouth and ears, carefully cut out these shapes on the paper template. You can then use the cut outs for tracing in the next step.
Step 2
2) Lay the messenger bag flat on top of a table. Insert a sheet of shirt cardboard underneath the outer flap of the messenger bag. The cardboard will keep the glue from soaking through under the canvas flap. Trace the cardboard head template onto the outside flap of the messenger bag. If needed, remove the cardboard and lay the paper (cut outs) on top of the canvas and trace as needed.
Step 3
3) Divide the brain into regions and sketch out the shapes onto the bag flap. Draw as many as you need. I drew seven like the original brain image depicted, but you could add more. Use permanent markers to color in the face and brain regions. I chose colors that were slightly pale in order to show off the words that would go on top of each region. Have fun with the region names, I kept them pretty broad, but teens have their own “big ideas”.