Strawberry Rectangle Zipper Pouch

Ten months ago, Singaporean Lilis Lim started the Give Gift etsy shop as a practical method to facilitate her passion for arts and crafts. Lilis loves the process of creation, but creating for creation's sake can get expensive unless you develop a way to subsidize your hobby, which is exactly what she did. Now a part of her everyday schedule, Lilis sews the bags, pouches, purses, and totes at home in her free time, and she drops the completed orders in the post on her way to work or school.

Only a month after she began, Lilis broke her first sewing machine, a mini-model that wasn't able to withstand the thick fabrics and zippers. Since then she has obtained a newer, better performing machine to effectively tackle her many projects. The resulting crafts(wo)manship is apparent in the Strawberry Rectangle Zipper Pouch.

Handmade from a pre-washed cotton fabric that features tiny pink and red strawberries dancing about in a sort of chorus line, the Strawberry Rectangle Zipper Pouch is a cutesy, feminine carrying case that reminds me of a certain popular red-haired, sweet-smelling doll from my youth. The fact that I never actually owned one of these dolls is neither here nor there; Strawberry Shortcake was ubiquitous in the 1980s, and the design of this pouch capitalizes on the '80s nostalgia that has infected America for the past several years.

At approximately 7 x 5 inches, the Strawberry Rectangle Zipper Pouch is big enough to hold your basic necessities—cell phone, cash, passport, iPod—unless you're the type of person who just cannot leave home without a stash of contingency items on your shoulder at all times. I used to be like that, then I developed back problems and a slight right tilt, so I decided my immediate physiological needs outweigh whatever not-really-emergency situation that might-possibly-perhaps-maybe-could strike where I need a bandaid, tissues, lip balm, and a multi-use tool.

Ranging from $3.50 to $23 (and then only $2 more for shipping), Give Gift makes is easy to, well, give gifts because their prices are so darn affordable—additional proof that this isn't a money-making venture, but is, indeed, a labor of love.

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