Crafting to CHRISTmas: Personalized Tote Bags

I'm doing homemade gifts for CHRISTmas this year and I'm starting with some canvas bags for my Sunday School class kids and for my own kiddos.

I admit... I took the easy road. I bought the canvas bags. I could have been an Uber-Crafter and made them but, hey, I have TONS of projects lined up. And I'm only human.

So thur she blows.

You'll need:
3-pk multi-colored canvas bags
acrylic craft paint
super cute stencils
spouncers (doesn't that sound funny to you too?)

First, I tried something I saw online somewhere... if you know where it's from, please let me know so I can give them proper credit. The idea was to take a dollar store paper doily and use it as a stencil. And that's precisely what I did.

 

I wasn't entirely happy with this so I got some cute and inexpensive stencils from Wally World.

And this is what happened...

I then did a google image search for embroidery fonts and freehanded names and initials. They're not perfect (I did say freehanded) so don't judge, you silhouette owners.

And then I was getting a little bored with the stencils and did some sort of argyle-ish pattern, made using a ruler to draw the lines and painted with painter's tape as a stencil.

Note: to give the diamonds a worn look, I pressed a strip of tape on each one when they were still wet.

And backed it with some boyish letter stencils. (also inexpensive from Wally World)

Enjoy!