DIY Valentine’s Bag

My niece and I have a tradition each year of being each other’s Valentine. This year was my turn to plan our activity. As she’s gotten older (she’s 11 now), this task has become harder and harder. I searched Pinterest for a solid hour before finding this adorable DIY.

I love tote bags and being a preschool teacher, I knew that this was something that I would use over and over again. My niece is very involved in sports and extra-curricular activities so I knew that she would also use a fun tote bag.

Supplies:

• Canvas Tote Bag: I found this tote bag at Hobby Lobby for $1.99. It’s very thin but for a trial run, it was the perfect price.
• Fabric Paint: I purchased a pink and red fabric paint to make it a little more colorful. I found my fabric paint at Hobby Lobby for $2.99 each.
• Pencil: The end of the pencil is the perfect size for the circles. However, you could use anything you have around the house.
• Tape: I used this washi tape that I had laying around the house. It’s sticky but still easily removed from the stencil so I could use it again.
• Stencil: I went online and found a picture of a heart that I liked and printed it off. You can use any shape you want.

Once you have all your supplies the process is so easy. Simply cut out the stencil and use the tape to adhere it to the bag in the position you want. Next just take the eraser pen of the pencil, dip it in one color of fabric paint and dot around the stencil.

Keep adding paint around the stencil until you get the desired effect. I’m a little bit of a perfectionist when it comes to patterns and things so I took my time and tried to neatly place the dots symmetrically around the stencil.

Once you’ve reached the desired amount of circles, simple peal off the stencil and reveal the design. If you decide to you add more circles or an additional color, just place the stencil back on the bag and keep dotting!

  
I absolutely love how it turned out! I’m going to do this with my nephew when he comes to visit in a few weeks. At 5 years old, he loves to do crafts! Let me know what you think below in the comments. If you have any ideas for a design for a 5 year old boy, leave that in the comments as well.