DIY decorated canvas tote bags

Two canvas tote bags with paint marker designs, photo

My apologies if you had difficulty with my site this week. I tried something that didn’t work. It’s back to the old design until I work out the kinks. While I do that, I thought I’d post a project from two years ago. I bought a bunch of canvas tote bags, fabric markers, and stencils and went wild. I admit I overdid the “It’s easy being green” theme, and now Kermit’s song is stuck in my head, but I had fun. And these tote bags made great gifts. (This post contains affiliate links. If you use these links to buy something, I may earn a small commission. You can read my full disclosure here.)

Canvas tote bags decorated with "It's Easy Being Green" designs, photo

Canvas tote bags decorated with diamond-shape designs, photo

Canvas tote bags decorated with paisley and tulip designs, photo

Canvas tote bags decorated with tree and diamond designs, photo

How to decorate canvas tote bags with fabric markers

SUPPLIES & TOOLS

canvas tote bags (I used the promotional tote bags from Dharma Trading Co., but these Amazon bags are better deal – if you want a dozen)
fabric markers ( I used FabricMate permanent chisel-tip fabric pens from Dharma Trading Co.)
water-soluble fabric marker
stencils (I found mine at Michaels)
images from the web for design inspiration

INSTRUCTIONS

Canvas tote bags, stencils, and fabric markers, photo

1. Choose your stencils and plan your design. Alternatively, find pictures you like on the internet, and draw them freehand with a water-soluble marker. (That’s how I drew the tree illustrations.) Fill in the stencils (or outlines) with permanent fabric markers. The colors mix together just like dyes, so try blending shades. The dyes are permanent without heat setting, but let them dry for a couple days before spraying or dabbing with water to remove any visible erasable-pen marks.