Decorated Dollar Store Tote Bags

We had 2 birthday parties this weekend, and I needed an inexpensive but super cute gift idea. I think they turned out great!! One of my favorite gifts to give is a personalized bag for church or the doctors office-- what little kid doesn't LOVE carrying around their very own bag? Mine do.

Usually I love to use Hobby Lobby's Canvas Bags- 4 in a pack for $6.99 and if you use a 40% off coupon, it's an even better deal! But I don't have a Hobby Lobby near me anymore :( and JoAnn's didn't have any small bags. Here are a couple bags I made last year with them:

I always fill them with $1 activity prizes from Target (love their dollar section!!) I actually grab things from there before I have a gift to plan and save them in a small box in my craft room. They have come in handy many a times!

So, since I didn't have my usual Hobby Lobby totes on hand, I remembered seeing these darling tote bags from Dollar Tree, $1 for 2!

I used my trusty Big Shot with the Sizzix alphabet set to cut out the letters (if you don't have a diecut machine, print off some large letters from word and cut them out-- that works great, it's just a bit more work- which is why I used to do initials instead of a whole name)

and then sew the letters on. If I were to do this again, I'd get some fabric glue and tack them down first. It's a little tricky to maneuver the bag around the sewing machine, but definitely remove the extension to your machine so you can get inside the bag and sew the letters on without sewing the bag shut (cuz that might defeat the purpose!!)

add a fun embellishment for a girlie bag, stuff with some fun activity prizes- books, stickers, crayons, stationary, pens, markers, board books, pez candies...

I filled this one with our favorite Dr. Seuss board books, some toddler crayons and a Mickey Mouse activity book.

...and you've got yourself the perfect personalized quiet bag gift!!

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