DIY Personalised Shopping Bag

If you're not already carrying your own bags shopping with you then shame on you! Hopefully though this project might help you change your ways. I don't know about you but I always find that the same-ness of the shopping bags bores me. I love it when I'm in the supermarket and I see someone with a bag that's a little bit different. It's kinda like your handbag, or anything else that you wear - your choice of shopping bag can say a lot about you - if you let it!

Now I'm all about the cute little hessian Tesco bags with the ladybugs all over them. I have a few of them myself. So does half the country though and they're far too big to roll up and keep in your handbag for those times when you're just stopping by the shop for a few bits and pieces. The plain Aldi bags on the other hand are perfect for handbag stashing and quick trips but they're just so plain!

Solution? Jazz that sucker up! I spotted this tutorial on Pinterest and just had to have a bash at it myself.

You will need:
1 plain shopping bag
Some card/a stencil
Scissors
Fabric paints in the colours of your choice
A pen or pencil
Spare piece of card (larger than your design)
Kitty helpers are optional (unless they're like our cats, in which case they'll insist on supervising...)

Oscar in his "Stop making crap woman and PET ME!!" pose

Step one: Decide the design you would like if you don't have a pre-made stencil. I decided I wanted to do a heart so I drew a slightly wonky one on my card and then cut the heart shape out.

Step two: Put spare card inside bag to stop paint transferring through (trust me on this one). Position stencil where you want it to be on the bag.

Step three: Dip the top end (the bit without the nip/point) of your pen or pencil in the first of your paint colours. Dot randomly over the exposed parts of your bag.

Step four: Repeat step three with all of your colours until you have your desired effect. I was originally going for spaced out polka dots but decided as I went along that I preferred the smushed-together watercolour effect that you see here.

Step five: Leave to dry.

Tada! Done! Time to go shopping and show your super-amazing skills off :-)