beach towel tote

I saw this tutorial for a toteable beach towel here and really liked the idea. If I take the kids to the beach (which is quite often in the summer since we live minutes away), I have four towels, not to mention sand buckets, digging supplies, snacks, sunscreen...the list could go on! Some days it seems impossible to get everything shoved into a bag that is small enough that it doesn't make me feel like I am planning on spending a week at the beach, not just a few hours. I found this beach towel in the one spot (for $2.50...explain that to me later!), and with a coupon from Target.com, I was able to score a brand new beach towel for 50cents! This is what I came up with.

I started with my 50 cent Target beach towel. (Have I mentioned that I love Target? In fact, our family is currently on display there in the camping aisle find out more here )
I went to Wal-Mart and picked up some coordinating pink fabric (half a yard at $1.50 a yard) and some coordinating ribbon for around 50 cents.
After following Anna Maria's tutorial, I realized that I messed up and put the long strap on the wrong side of the towel making it so that when I folded the towel up, you had the ugly side of the towel on the outside.
I'm no perfectionist so it didn't bother me, but when I was trying to explain my new project (and the things I would do differently next time) to my husband he ended up convincing me to take out the stitches, shift the long handle to the other side and while I was at it, I could then stuff the upper envelope portion (one of my "things I would do differently" ideas).
So I did...and above you will see the before finished product (it is nice that it folds together so small) and below the after (with the stuffing you can't fold the top like I could before, so it's like a yoga mat).

I love the idea of having a pillow attached to the blanket. How comfy is that?!
Hopefully, this summer will bring lots of lazy beach days, just like this!
I stitched the ribbon on as a decorative accent. LOVE IT!
And there you have it! My new and improved beach towel tote. All together it cost me about $2!