July 25, 2011

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!!
{Linking up with:}
Photobucket A Crafty Soiree Craft Junkie Too Friend
DIY under $5

6 comments:

btanders said...

These are soo cute! I have Big Shot and am always looking for new projects to use with it. Thanks for sharing!!

Rachel (Lines across my face) said...

These are cute. I love the personalization. I would love it if you would stop by the crafty link party I am just starting and link up this post!
http://linesacrossmyface.blogspot.com/2011/07/craft-link-party-1-cure-for-common.html
:)Rachel

Tracy said...

I'm so happy I found your blog through Sassy Site's linking party today….

I'd like to invite you to share your projects at my weekly linking party sometime also. I'd like to grow my weekly party with nice quality projects just like this one. Here is the direct link if you'd like to check it out sometime. Thanks for the consideration.
Tracy
T.G.I.F. Linky Party

Unknown said...

Love the fabric names! We tried to paint names on these and it did not work very well. Thanks for linking up with DIY under $5!

Anonymous said...

NICE work you can have more creativity on bags like adding buttons on them, etc.

send gift to pakistan from USA

Lorene said...

What a fun idea- I was in the Dollar store, looking at those bags-thinking there has got to be something I can do with those...
thank you for sharing