Totally Tote Tuesday #5

Totally Tote Tuesdays are all about making and decorating tote bags.

Who couldn’t use another tote bag? They’re great for gifting. They’re great for customizing for different hobbies and tasks. They’re green. They can make use of items in your craft stash.

And, last but not least, they’re loads of fun – to make and to use!

Koi Beach-Themed Tote Bag

I just realized I've done two beach-themed tote bags in a row - just in time for the end of summer. Oh well ... I bought all the bits and pieces in early June. That's the kind of summer it was for me - busy, busy, busy.

I dove into my stash to find the little ceramic fish embellishments. I can't even remember where I got them. I think I salvaged them from a gift box or something like that.

This is my favorite of the decorated totes I've done so far. The ceramic fish give it an extra 3D pop. I hesitated to use them because I thought they might get knocked off easily, but believe me, these suckers are on to stay.

I used Mighty Mendit Permanent Bonding Agent to attach the fishies. I applied a generous blob of Mendit to the bag and then nested each fish in place. The tiny bubbles floating up from their mouths are nail art brads attached with Aleene’s Jewel-It glue.

I also used the nail art brads to "nail" the k*i softie buttons in place. As I say frequently, not all craft supplies are found in the craft aisle. You can save money and come up with unique projects by thinking outside the box - er - craft aisle.

Materials I used:

• Natural color tote bag from a 3-pack (bought at Michael’s);
• Dritz Iron-On Rhinestuds "Koi fish";
• Color coordinated iron-on appliqué flowers by Next Style (also Michael’s);
• k*i Memories softies Soft Rubber Charms (Michael’s);
• Metal Slides & Ribbons by Passports for Scrapbooking - the slide on this one says, "beach";
• Xyron X sticker maker to apply glue uniformly across the back of the ribbon and slide;
• 3 small ceramic fish from my stash;
• Mighty Mendit Permanent Bonding Agent to attach the ceramic fish;
• Aleene’s Jewel-It embellishing glue to attach the brads;
• Siena Diamond Nails nail art gold dots (brads).

Assembly

• Lay out embellishments until you’re happy with the design.
• Iron on the Rhinestuds design. This turned out to be a bit tricky. Not all of the studs ironed on well. Use Aleene's Jewel-It to affix any stray studs.
• Run the ribbon and slide through the Xyron X, burnish to make sure adhesive is evenly applied across the ribbon, remove the transparent film, pull the ribbon from the backing strip and press into place.
• Iron on the iron-on flowers.
• Glue on the softie buttons with Aleene's Jewel-It.
• Glue on the ceramic fish with Mighty Mendit.
• Use Aleene's Jewel-It to glue the “brads” over the softie button holes and to create bubbles streaming from the fishes’ mouths.

Tags: craft ideas, craft projects, craft inspiration, tote bag crafts, decorated tote bags, tote bag embellishment projects, tote bag ideas, favorite things