by Karin Breuer

Created on: October 30, 2008   Last Updated: June 20, 2011

Christmas bazaars have become almost an institution across North America and while some are truly treasure troves of fine art and crafts, for the most they are a collection of work prepared by home crafters who either donate their time and their work for the benefit of a charity or use it as a home business. Books on crafts and web-sites are full of ideas that will lend themselves to creating marketable crafts often requiring little expertise to finish very attractive items.

Four years ago I offered to lead a craft group for the benefit of producing crafts for our church bazaar. We shared ideas, paged through magazines and books and collected samples. Out of these we created our own ideas and each year we add to favorites and create new pieces to attract the shoppers to our bazaar. So it was that we came upon a very inexpensive idea that sold out almost immediately-"The Happy Banker", a money bank made out of a "Pringle's Potato Chip" tube. While the sample that someone had brought in was completed in decoupage, we decided that we would like to focus this craft on encouraging children to save money. What could be better than a bank that was disguised as a person? I tried it out on my grandson, creating a copy of "Men in Black" which he recognized immediately. He loved it. I drafted out a series of different people and brought the ideas to the group. It seemed that each of the crafters fell in love with a different persona and so we created 12 different bankers. The directions are simple, the cost is low and you are limited only by your imagination in the creation of characters.

The Happy Banker

• 1 Pringle's Box (clean inside)

• Flesh colored craft paint

• Black marker

• Sharp knife and cutting board

• Colored felt 6"x10 "

• Printed cotton material 3 "x 10 "

• Fusing paper (3 " x 10 ")

• Small bits of felt to cut out 2 mitts

• Miscellaneous wired ribbon

• Buttons

• Glue gun

• Craft glue

• Hat (can be knit or made of fabric) to fit the top of the Pringle Box

Remove the plastic lid and cut a slit long and wide enough to slide coins through easily.

Paint the top half of the box with flesh colored craft paint (may need more than one coat to cover the writing underneath).

Fuse printed cotton strip to felt strip to create the "outfit"

Using craft glue, glue the "outfit" to the bottom part of the Pringle's can so that the flesh color will show at the top.

With a black marker draw in eyes and nose to create a face.

Tie a wired ribbon around the top to separate the body of the "happy banker" from the face. Keep in place with a little hot glue.

Cut small mitts from colored felts and position so that they face each other toward the middle. Use hot glue to attach. Finish the top of the mitt by gluing on a little bow or braid.

Add colorful buttons to the printed cotton part down the front.

Put the plastic lid back on the top and cover it with a hat.

This cute little banker will lend itself to a variety of themes: old-fashioned ladies with poufy bonnets and aprons; little "boys" with vests and curly dolls wigs; hula girls with colorful "grass" skirts. The ideas are endless and will make great bazaar pleasers at very little cost. Enjoy!

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