We are just 4 days away from our annual Homosassa Arts, Crafts, and Seafood Festival. I write about this every year. Well, at least since 2015 when we started volunteering for the event.

Over 10,000 people visit our little community over this weekend. Terry is the chairperson. I do a whole lot of behind the scenes stuff like the web design, most of the graphic design, the social media….there’s more. It keeps me busy. I also used to do the entertainment and the t-shirts but very capable people came forward and have taken over those roles. Whew….

I’ll be working in the t-shirt/info booth this year. And doing the photography. And posting on FB. Easy stuff that I enjoy doing. Stop by and say hello!

One of the big money raisers for the community is the raffle packages that are offered at the festival. There are five packages this year. Tickets are $2.00. Local organizations sell the tickets and keep half of the money. One dollar doesn’t sound like a lot but it is if the group sales 2000 tickets. Each package is worth from $500 to $600. I usually try to donate something to the “Women’s Raffle Package”. This year I made a shopping tote so all the gift certificates and small gifts could go inside it.

This is the basic shopping tote. I didn’t start working on it until a few days ago so I was going with what I had in my sewing room. I went with pink because I just happened to have pink gingham and pink strapping.

If you’d like to make one, here is the tutorial: Basic Shopping Tote. (Link updated on 2/13/2020)

I made a couple of changes for this bag. I added a pocket to the interior and replaced the plastic canvas with ByAnnie’s Soft and Stable. I used the Soft and Stable because I was in a hurry—it’s much easier than creating the pocket for the plastic canvas then sewing it into the tote. And I had a leftover piece that was just the right size.

I stitched pieces of old jeans together to create the outside and was able to use an old Wrangler pocket.

I like to put something in the pocket. This bag gets fish because I not only had pink gingham and strapping, but I had some pink fish already just waiting for a home!

And, if you want to make the fish, you can find those instructions on this post: Softie Fish DIY

The festival is a lot of fun even though it is a lot of work. We should have over 50 volunteers this year which does lighten the load!

The money from the festival keeps the Old Homosassa Learning Center and all it’s programs running. Numerous other programs are also funded by the festival like scholarships and free summer camp. Good Works!