DIY Dotty Tote Bags

SHARE:


Kids can make this great gift for family or friends! Painted dotty tote bag that you can customize with any word or design that you want. Great gift for teachers, neighbors, friends, or family.

My daughters love helping make homemade gifts for our friends and family members!  But after several years, we've done many of the most popular gifts that kids can make-- coasters, tea towels, and hot pads.  

This year we've made some adorable tote bags, customized for each recipient.  I know that I've got a TON of tote bags, but they all get plenty of use, and I always seem to need more!  We keep ballet gear in one, have a few in the car for library books, use one for violin music and accessories, have some that get packed when the girls are going to spend the night with their grandparents, and use some to haul gear to the playground or park.  Most busy folks have plenty of use for a new tote bag! 

These DIY Dotty Totes turned out just lovely, and the girls can't wait to give them away over the next few days!

This post may contain Amazon or other affiliate links.  If you use these links, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.   Click here for my full privacy and disclosure policies.

Materials for DIY Dotty Tote Bags

Prepare Your Tote Bags


Wash and dry your tote bags to remove any starch or sizing.  Iron if necessary.  They won't look quite as crisp, but it is necessary so that the fabric paint will stick nicely.

Tote Bag Gift Kids Can Make

Using a word processor, print the letters you want to put on your tote bag.  Choose a thick, chunky font, and cut out the letters.  Make sure to consider how large they need to be to fill the space on the bag.

Tote Bag Gift Kids Can Make

Use a washable glue stick to glue the letters in place.  Make sure to glue all the way to the edges.  Don't worry-- they'll peel off after you've finished painting!

Time To Paint Your Tote Bag


Tote Bag Gift Kids Can Make

Make small puddles of paint on your paper plate.  Set out cotton swabs for each color.

Tote Bag Gift Kids Can Make

I told my girls to first outline the letters with dots.  First with one color.

Tote Bag Gift Kids Can Make

Then with the other colors, until the letters are thickly outlined with dots.  

Tote Bag Gift Kids Can Make

Once the letters have a nice thick outline, add lots more dots around the whole bag.  The more dots, the better the bag will look.  It also looks best if there is a dense concentration of dots close to the letters that gets thinner as you move away from the letters.  This concept was pretty tricky for my girls to understand, but as long as the letters themselves are thickly outlined, you'll be okay.

Tote Bag Gift Kids Can Make

My 3-year-old, Maggie, didn't quite feel like making dots. So she did what she wanted, and Lena graciously helped finish the dots for her bag.  It all worked out fine in the end!

Tote Bag Gift Kids Can Make

After you've added LOADS of dots, it's time for the big reveal!  This is by far the best part.  Before the paint has dried, grab a corner of the letter and gently pull the paper up.  You shouldn't have any trouble- a washable glue stick isn't really designed to hold paper to fabric!

Tote Bag Gift Kids Can Make

Set aside to dry.  If you want, add another word or design to the reverse side.  We put hearts on several of our bags, left some blank, and added another word to others.

Tote Bag Gift Kids Can Make

Part of the fun is choosing which color combinations to use! 

Tote Bag Gift Kids Can Make

We made "BOOKS" and "READ" library bags for our friends, "HAPPY" bags for Lena's gymnastics coaches, a "MUSIC" bag for Lena's violin teacher, and some "LOVE" bags for some family members.  We also couldn't resist making a few for ourselves! 

You May Also Be Interested In

Invitation To Create: Trim A Tree

From Other Great Bloggers

Experience Gifts To Enjoy With Your Kids from Stir The Wonder
  Kid-Made Painted Flower Pot Gift from Mom Inspired Life
DIY Crayon Lip Balm from Raising Lifelong Learners
20 Awesome Gifts Kids Can Make from Playdough To Plato

Kids can make this great gift for family or friends! Painted dotty tote bag that you can customize with any word or design that you want. Great gift for teachers, neighbors, friends, or family.



https://www.facebook.com/WhatCanWeDoWithPaperAndGlue/
 https://www.pinterest.com/paperglue/
https://www.instagram.com/whatcanwedowithpaperandglue/
http://madmimi.com/signups/125528/join

Name

activity animals art author back to school bears bees bird black history book extension book list books budget butterfly cats chalk chapter books children christmas cinco de mayo circus coins colors construction cookie craft crafts culture curriculum dentist different dinosaurs discovery table diy doctor dogs dolls Earth Day easter elementary fabric fall family family theme farm fathers day fine motor first grade five senses flowers food france fruit game geography gift gift guide gross motor grownup halloween healthy history homeschool ideas independence day insect insects invitation jungle keepsake kids kindergarten kindness kinesthetic learning lego letter of the week literacy lunch math menu resource mothers day music my body nature numbers obstacle course ocean organization origami ornament outer space painting paper parenting play play dough pops preschool preschool resource pretend printable process art pumpkin quiet time rainbows reading roundup recipe recycle Roundup science season second grade sensory Seuss sewing shapes snack snacks soup spanish spring st. patrick's day summer sweet bite Thanksgiving toddler toys transportation trees tutorial united states valentine vegetarian washi tape weather weekly theme winter yarn
false
ltr
item
What Can We Do With Paper And Glue: DIY Dotty Tote Bags
DIY Dotty Tote Bags
Kids can make this great gift for family or friends! Painted dotty tote bag that you can customize with any word or design that you want. Great gift for teachers, neighbors, friends, or family
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW163m9INQofjWo5ynFsBDsZojZUvkuCoWpbygi7hT0NNsFPseKvCa-3r7pR3O3tOKKIg5Hlg_QBS5Chwi1tG4DPzOcoenwvelkkxpqUWVAbXi6KskM1qxNs6uClRFR3pooqSxcSibdVbF/s640/DIY-Dotty-Tote-Bag-Gift-Small.png
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW163m9INQofjWo5ynFsBDsZojZUvkuCoWpbygi7hT0NNsFPseKvCa-3r7pR3O3tOKKIg5Hlg_QBS5Chwi1tG4DPzOcoenwvelkkxpqUWVAbXi6KskM1qxNs6uClRFR3pooqSxcSibdVbF/s72-c/DIY-Dotty-Tote-Bag-Gift-Small.png
What Can We Do With Paper And Glue
http://www.paper-and-glue.com/2015/12/diy-dotty-tote-bags-gift-kids-can-make.html?m=0
http://www.paper-and-glue.com/?m=0
http://www.paper-and-glue.com/
http://www.paper-and-glue.com/2015/12/diy-dotty-tote-bags-gift-kids-can-make.html
true
2983766635568173784
UTF-8
Not found any posts VIEW ALL Readmore Reply Cancel reply Delete By Home PAGES POSTS View All RECOMMENDED FOR YOU LABEL ARCHIVE SEARCH ALL POSTS Not found any post match with your request Back Home Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat January February March April May June July August September October November December Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec just now 1 minute ago $$1$$ minutes ago 1 hour ago $$1$$ hours ago Yesterday $$1$$ days ago $$1$$ weeks ago more than 5 weeks ago Followers Follow THIS CONTENT IS PREMIUM Please share to unlock Copy All Code Select All Code All codes were copied to your clipboard Can not copy the codes / texts, please press [CTRL]+[C] (or CMD+C with Mac) to copy