Mom’s Ultimate Survival Kit

Beckie from Infarrantly Creative asked me to participate in Pennywise Presents a few weeks ago, and I decided from the get go that I wanted to make something useful for my friends for Christmas. Spending a lot of mula is never on my to do list, and living a thrifty life is what I am ALL about. So, I’ve had this project brewing on my brain for a while. 🙂

I have to tell you the reasons why I chose to make a “Mom’s ultimate survival kit.” I am not one of those well-prepared, have-everything-they-need type of Mom. In fact, I am the Mom that forgets EVERYTHING. I am not proud of this. A kit like this would have come in handy in my life countless times. I never have a bandaid when I need one. I hardly ever have tissues on hand when one of my children is in dire need. I am just plain, not good at this stuff. My oldest is 7 years old, and you would think I would learn. I am definitely getting better…but still I find myself wishing I had some essential Mom items with me at all times.

So, I decided to make MOM’S ULTIMATE SURVIVAL KIT as my Pennywise Presents project! I decided to include the essential items that Moms could use in their purses, and since I have young children and so do most of my good friends, the items reflect the necessities of a young mother.

I started out by doing research. I asked around. I even Googled it. I came up with the main, repeating items to put into my kit. Plus I have some experience of my own. 🙂

I headed to the dollar store. I had a few items on hand, but I needed to pick up a few more.

My list of essentials are:
Tissues…because nothing is worse than green goo coming out of a child’s nose.
Wet wipes…because sticky is a Mom’s middle name.
Bobby pins….to pin back a wild hair in a moment’s notice.
A small note pad…because I tend to write myself notes on the back of old receipts A LOT because I cannot find a piece of paper. 🙂
A comb…because if you have little girls, it will come in handy to do a quick touch up in the parking lot.
Pens…because pens seem to disappear, and it helps to have one nearby at all times.
Hand sanitizer…because germs are a kid’s best friend.
Gum…to freshen your breath.
Clippers…for the surprise hangnail.
Scissors…for the necessary snip of unexpected items!
Tweezers….for the occasional sliver.
Dum dum suckers…because sometimes a sucker is the only thing that will keep my kiddos quiet in a store.
Lip gloss…because lip gloss always makes me feel a little better.
Tylenol…in case of a headache…plus most of my friends are pregnant right now, so Tylenol is the only thing we can take!
Hair elastics…because my girls decide to take their newly-done hairdos out all the time.
Chocolate…for a little treat when you need it the most. 🙂
Bandaids…for boo boos
and Safety pins…for the emergency situations that we have all experienced. (Like when my daughter’s skirt kept falling down to her knees at church.)

I spent about $15.00, but I have almost enough stuff to make three more kits.

I found a piece of scrap fabric sitting in one of my drawers, and started the process by laying out the products across the fabric. I wanted to make sure that I had enough fabric to fit it all.

I began by hemming the bottom edge of the fabric, and then I folded it up over the items to create little pouches for each product. I carefully marked how wide each pouch should be with a pencil, and one by one I sewed the lines into place. I was careful to only sew one at a time because I wanted the items to fit snug.

I purposely designed the pouches to run vertically across the project because I wanted to create a “kit” that would fit into any woman’s purse. The items will fit snuggly inside the pouches and then it will roll up to be compact!

After I had sewn pouches into my fabric, I hemmed the top of the fabric to finish the edge.

I put a few items in the same pouches to make a better use of space.

The kit was ready! Now, I just needed to make it fit into a Mom’s purse! I rolled it up into a tight ball.

I tied a ribbon around the kit for looks and to fasten it tightly. Then, I made a cute felt flower to adorn the outside. 🙂 I will be posting instructions on how to make this flower on All Things Thrifty in the next few days. Sidenote: The flower is removable and has a pin on the back to use as a brooch.

As you can see, the essential items are nice and snug in the kit.

But, when you need it, the items are just a reach away!

I thought it turned out cute!

Being a Mom is the most rewarding job in the world. I have learned a lot of lessons, and why not make your friends something to make their lives a tad bit easier!

Overall cost of 1 kit: Less than $5.00.

I found this poem, and I thought it was darling!

It describes my life to a T!

Published on December 30, 2010

22 thoughts on “Mom’s Ultimate Survival Kit”

  1. I want to make these for me and my sisters in law. We all have babies and toddlers and need most of that stuff at some point during an outing. :o) Great idea.

  2. Oh, I would so love to make these for my girls. These would be totally amazing for each of them. Can't wait for you to post the directions for the flowers. I can start Christmas early!!

  3. Great idea! I may have to use this idea with our teachers who will be new mommies this year. Thanks for sharing! Happy New Year!

  4. awww that prayer is cute! sums up my day

    love your little mummy kit there. I take jelly snakes with me in my bag and rice crackers for the little people…..sometimes sugar is the only way to keep everyone happy!

    just found your blog and love it:)

    Corrie:)

  5. I'm the same kind of mom as you when you said you never have exactly what you need for little emergencies. This is a great idea and a wonderful gift for mom's of young children. My boys are teenagers now and I could still use it. Very cute!

  6. LOVE this idea!! I have been so spastic lately and a kit like this would be awesome. So much better than having to rummage around in the depths of my purse, too!

  7. What a gret idea, I will making one for my daughter, two daughter’s in-law, my Administrative Assistant and myself. Thank you.

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