Canvas Bag Gifts!

I am always looking for creative handmade gift ideas. I love giving handmade gifts. They are more personal and unique. Etsy has fabulous handmade gifts one can purchase but to add that extra personal touch I often like to make my own! One of the occasions that I feel screams for handmade is Mother's Day. Oh I know spring has bearly sprung but it's never too early to consider what the kids should give grandma on mother's day! Children can make pretty fabulous things. I cherish everything my children bring home to me but I can't say everything I've received has been practical or durable. I think it is wonderful to find crafty ideas that children are a part of that can also be useful and longlasting as well as treasured!

This year my kids have decorated beautiful cotton bags as gifts! You can buy plain canvas, cotton, or even organic bags at many craft stores. We created iron-on transfers to decorate our bags. The children first used coloured crayons, pencils, and markers to produce lovely original art pieces. These drawings were done on regular white paper. I then scanned the artwork onto the computer and printed them out on T-Shirt transfer sheets for the printer. You can find these transfers at office supply stores but be sure to get those for light fabrics if you are using a white or light coloured bag and those for dark fabrics for dark bags.
After printing out my transfers it was easy! Iron the transfer onto the bag as per the transfer instructions and voila! Just remember that words will appear backwards if they are not written as mirror-images so it might be a good idea to forgo using words. I had my children sign the bags afterward with a fabric marker. Add tags or fill them with other gifts if you wish. These bags are great for grocery shopping, library books, just about anything and they aren't plastic!! Create your own eco-friendly bags!