Summer Tote Bag Series: Seahorse Beach Tote

Can a series only have two parts? 
Confession: I only have two Summer Totes to blog about this week.  Calling this a "series" may have been a bit of an overstatement.  But you never know, I may be inspired again, before summer comes to a close. 
Today's tote was fairly simple.  I came across a plain blank canvas tote while cleaning out my closet a few weeks ago.  I couldn't tell you where or when I bought it, but it was similar to this.  
I found this easy and straight forward tutorial for a DIY Seahorse Silhouette Beach Bag on The Graphics Fairy.

Here is my version:

a close up:

I followed The Graphic Fairy's directions more or less, but since I don't have a Silhouette machine, went the old fashioned route.  I printed out the Seahorse silhouette, applied Heat 'n Bond to the back of a rectangle of fabric, traced the shape onto the fabric, cut it out by hand, applied it to the tote, then finally, sewed the shape to the tote.  Whew. And now, you have a lovely little tote to go to the beach or to the pool or even to the farmer's market. 

Fabric: Lark by Amy Butler; Kasbah Ikat in Midnight.

Summer Tote Bag Series: Straw Pom Pom Tote

While I've taken a little break from blogging, that doesn't mean I haven't been creating! 
It's no secret that I have a little obsession with tote bags.  I love shopping for them, making them and collecting them!  I've made (ok, embellished) a few easy totes this summer that I'll be blogging about this week.

 You're familiar with the Target One Spot, right?  That little area near the front door of every Target full of impulse buys that range from $1-$3.  If you're like me (classic impulse buyer), you can't walk by without seeing if there are any new items I just can't live without.  One item that caught my eye this summer, was this simple little $3 straw tote.

All summer I kept picking up these little totes and putting them back.  Reminding myself that I didn't need another tote.  And while that is absolutely true, we sometimes do need a creative outlet.  In the spirit of this blog, I went off to find a way to turn this simple little $3 tote into something more.

 



 I came across this DIY Pom Pom Beach Tote tutorial from The Lovely Drawer.

And this tutorial from Life In Mod for DIY Contrast Tote.

This is what I made:

 

I started by removing the handles the bag came with.  They were a little chintzy and plastic.

I then gathered all the yellow acrylic paints I had on hand, two bottles of regular craft paint and one bottle of fabric paint, all about the same color and started layering on the paint.  Yellow paint is pretty transparent by nature, so it took quite a few coats (7 or 8?) over a few days.  Once properly dry, I very carefully sewed on a length of pom pom trim.  Finally, I dug through my craft supplies and found these leather tote handles that I happened to have on hand (similar to these) and hand sewed them on with contrast hot pink thread.  Not that easy to see in my picture, but added a fun little color pop. Perfect to tote to the beach or the pool!

Stay tuned for another summer tote, coming later this week!