Personalized Teacher Tote Bag

My son's teacher is amazing, so I knew I wanted to make her something extra special for Teacher Appreciation Week.  With the help of our parents, and every child, I helped to create this adorable tote bag for her.

Since she is on the "green team" for our school and enjoys getting the kids outside in nature, I thought I would use a nature theme for her bag.  On the front of the bag, I painted tree branches and sewed on 23 tiny green leaves.  Then, each of the kids put their thumbprint on a lighter piece of fabric that was attached to each of the green leaves (with Heat n Bond tape).

On the back, I embroidered the school year onto a piece of fabric and stitched that onto the bag.

Our school's PTA put together a "Favorite Things" binder, where each teacher filled out a sheet with a list of their favorite things.  So, we took some ideas from her list and added some of her favorites to her tote bag.  She loved everything!

Preschool Tote

At my children's preschool, they ask that the children use a tote bag instead of a backpack.  It's easier for the children to carry and easier for the teachers to put papers into.

I purchased a plain canvas tote bag from the craft store and used some craft supplies and fabric we had on hand to decorate them. 

The first year my son was in preschool, he loved Thomas the train.  So, I took some Thomas fabric I had and cut out the square pictures.  I hemmed the edges and sewed them onto the bag.

By the time his second year at preschool rolled around, he wasn't a big fan of Thomas anymore, so I removed the Thomas fabric pieces and stitched on some space-themed fabric, cut into the shapes of stars, planets and rocket ships.

Last year was my daughter's first year of preschool and she requested a ballerina bag.  I created the head and hair from felt and handstitched the face.  The body, arms, legs and feet were painted on with puffy paint.  I sewed on the tulle for the tutus and added scrapbooking brads for the little bows and flowers in the ballerinas hair.  She still loves her bag so we'll be using it again this school year.

I hope our school totes give you some ideas or inspiration for creating your own child's school tote.  I know when I was looking for ideas, I saw so many cute and creative ideas.  If you have your own school tote design to share, please leave a reply with a link, to share your craftiness with our readers!

Monogrammed Tote Bag

We have a birthday party to attend for two little friends, and I had the idea to pretty up some plain canvas tote bags to stash their gifts in. They actually came together pretty quickly. I used some leftover ribbon, and made their initials and a ruffled flower from some fabric scraps.  I love how the bags can double as a gift bag and a tote bag, for whatever the girls want to tote around.