Giant Macaron Coin Purse Tutorial

If this adorable Macaron Coin Purse tutorial hasn't made it onto one of your Pinterest boards, yet, you can thank me for helping you rectify this oversight. I made one to swap in the Austin Modern Quilt Guild white elephant gift exchange at our December meeting. I forgot to take a picture, though, so I made another one that I hung on our Christmas tree like an ornament. 

This is tiny, precious, and time consuming hand sewing, to be sure. Unlike a hand pieced quilt, though, you can finish one of these in an afternoon ;-) The tutorial uses 1.5" cover buttons, so the finished "coin purse" is itty bitty. I instantly wanted to make bigger ones. The biggest cover button size you can get is size 100, which measures 2.5". Too small! Plus, I couldn't seem to find that size in bulk, and they cost at least $3.00 per button. Your coin purse needs two.

I wanted something with the same round shape that was cheap and easy to come by. I emailed a company that made promotional items to see about getting the metal shields that they use to make buttons out of that you pin on your shirt that say "I love The Beatles" or whatever your button would say. Under no circumstances was I googling potential solutions on my phone in the dark while I was supposed to be asleep. Noooo sirrrrr. That doesn't even sound like me.

Then it hit me. Mini frisbees. OF COURSE! Then I had to live with the shame of not thinking of it sooner, because Mr. Pins is an active ultimate frisbee player, and there are frisbees all over my house. Awesome. Off I went to Party City the next day, where mini flying disc party favors are $0.10 each. Seriously. I got a couple of dollars' worth :-)

Oh yeah, that's a better coin purse size. The best part is you basically follow the original tutorial to make the giant version. No reinventing the wheel here. 

Here are the differences: 

1) Since a mini frisbee doesn't come with a back like a cover button, just trace your mini frisbee onto a cereal box and cut just inside the line. You'll wrap this part in fabric in place of a cover button back. 

2) My mini frisbees measure 3.5". I cut down a 14" zipper to 12.5". I zipped my zipper closed and measured from 1/8"beyond the end of the zipper pull and cut the zipper off 12.5" from that point. I stitched across the end of my zipper and followed the tutorial instructions from there. 

3) I used about a 4" length of ribbon for the loop.

Now get to a party supply store and stock up! These guys are too cute!

Happy Crafting and Happy Mardi Gras!

Claire