Bridesmaids bags, bags, bags.....

Time to cross another big to-do off my wedding list and mark it to-done! Over the weekend, I painted the rest of the bags for all of my girls in the wedding. While in Milwaukee, Janelle had painted the bottom 3/4 of the stencil onto 7 of the bags then when I got home, I finished painting the top design onto each of the bags along with the last three bags. They turned out way cuter and awesome than I had even planned on! I love when that happens! My mom also helped with the project by finding the monograms for each of the bags and she gave me the carbon paper to trace them on. Yay for teamwork and having an awesome crafty Mom and sister! This is my breakdown for these fun and easy DIY bags!

Here's what you'll need for the bags:
-plain canvas bag
-stencil of your choice
-paint
-paintbrush
-tape

Total cost of the project: $40.94. I made 9 bags and one mini bag for my niece, Teagan. I used a 40% off coupon for everything that I purchased (Jordan and I made several trips to Hobby Lobby....) and that saved me an extra $25!

Total time: 6-7 hours. It was time consuming because I had to be careful with the stencil as some of the dots on it were really small and close. Also, tracing and painting on the monograms took about 30-40 minutes a piece. Slow and steady does it for this project!

1. Start with a plain canvas bag of any size you'd prefer!

2. Align the stencil between the handles to get it centered on the bag.
Tape it down so it doesn't move while painting.

3. Use a short and stiff bristle brush and minimal paint!
Also, I worked my way around each pattern by pressing down on the stencil and
only dabbed at it to ensure it only filled the stencil and so no paint got underneath
(otherwise, it just makes the whole pattern run together and that doesn't look good!)

4. Once the paint dries, use carbon paper to copy on the monogram.
I used a fine point pen to make sure it would press hard enough and copy onto the bag.

5. This is how the bag should look with the stencil finished
and monogram copied on.

6. The end result!

7. All of the bags finished! I hope my girls love them as much as I do!
And they can use them after the wedding too which is fun...yay for multipurpose wedding stuff!
(that doesn't scream it came from a wedding!!!)

Close up of my niece's  flower girl "mini tote"
She's only 4 so I thought the curly-cue letter was perfect for her!
I'm sure she'll fill this with her barbies, hair clips, and shoes!

I can't wait to give these out to all of my girls...but first, I got to keep gathering the "stuff" that's going to be inside the bags as part of their wedding gifts from me. But that I'll have to keep a secret so I don't ruin all the fun for the girls! These are so much more personal than ordering a bag and having it embroidered or something...and it was so much more cost effective as well! Just another successful DIY fun and affordable wedding craft for the books! I wonder what my crafting instincts will lead me to next!