Make Your Own Customized Tote Bag

Need a cheap, yet cute gift? Or do you just want to get crafty and decorate your own bag? A custom decorated tote would be perfect. If you give one away as a present, the receiver will be impressed that you crafted it, yet not embarrassed to carry it around. If you make your own bag, you will have full control over what you want on it. You can really let your personality shine through a custom made tote bag.

The best thing about decorating your own tote bag is that it is easy and cheap. You can buy a plain tote bag (or a pack) at any craft store. I found mine at Wal-Mart in the craft section. They were less than $2.00 a piece. There are also colored totes available. I also bought fabric paint and ribbon for a dollar or two. You can use just about anything for your bags. Leftover fabric from clothes or other craft projects, sequins, puff paint, felt, glitter, buttons, and so on. In the beauty bag, the lace is from an old Halloween costume I trimmed.

To put images on it, you can do it three ways. You can free hand it, which can be extremely difficult if you are not an artist. You can use image transfer paper. This is great for putting personal pictures on bags. My favorite way to get pictures on bags is to stencil them on. I wrote an article that tells how to do stenciling here:
Basically, all you have to do is search for stencils on the web and find one you like. Print it out on sturdy paper. Cut out the black (or whatever color you print the stencil in). Lay it on your tote bag and paint on fabric paint. Very simple, but it provides great results. Another fund idea is to cut images out of felt and fabric.

Another thing I like putting on my tote bags (as you can see on my unfinished bags) is ribbons and bows. They give the bag some color as well as make a border for them. You can also replace the straps with ribbon.

Customizing tote bags is an easy craft that is suitable for any age. It also can make a great gift. There are so many options that it would be silly to write a tutorial for a specific type of bag. Rather, I write to encourage and give ideas on how you can make your own customized tote bag.