Dress Up School Gear and Favorite Books with DIY Bag Tags, Bag Charms & Bookmarks

Thank you to Oriental Trading Company for providing some of the beads and craft supplies for our back-to-school craft project.  All opinions expressed are my own.

Our children returned to school today!  My daughter, in particular, was super-excited for her first day of 5th grade.  She had her first day outfit all picked out, along with new shoes, a new lunch bag, and a new backpack.  She certainly loves to express herself with what she wears, so I didn't have to ask her twice when I invited her to create some bag tags, bag charms, and bookmarks with the assortment of colorful supplies from Oriental Trading.


For inspiration, here are some of the supplies we used . . . 

Glitter Picture Frame Keychains

Mini Clip Keychains

Animal Print Puff Heart Beads

Gold & Silver Acrylic Beads

XO Rhinestone Charms

Rhinestone Heart Charms

Clear Aurora Borealis Cut Crystal Round Beads

Silvertone Simple Bookmarks

White Flat Stretchy Cording

Pocket Tote Bags

Glitter Fabric Paint Pens

Patterned Paper

Mod Podge

Sponge Brush

Scissors

TIP #1:  To make the bag tags more decorative, we decoupaged a piece of printed origami paper face-down, added another layer of Mod Podge, layed down the bag tag graphic face-up, and finished with another layer of Mod Podge.  That way, the back of the bag tag looks just as nice as the front.

TO PRINT:  Check that your printer is on and ready to go. Click the image below to enlarge.  Then right-click and select print.  Use your browser's back button to return to this page.

 TIP #2: You can save the blank template sheet to your computer to add text and graphics digitally or have your child decorate them with permanent marker by hand.  We did both to see which my daughter would prefer.  She liked the ones she drew by hand better.

TIP #3:  The bag charms can hang alone on a backpack, tote bag, or handbag, or be paired with a bag tag.  We tried it both ways and couldn't decide which we liked best.

TIP #4: Alternating large and small beads will make your bag tags and bookmarks look more interesting.  My 13 year old son made this bookmark for a special young lady in his life.

My daughter's favorite craft was the bag tags.  She just loves personalized items and being able to draw her own bag tag designs made her super-happy.  She proudly showed them off today on her backpack and lunch bag.

Personally, I liked the bookmark craft the best.  They are easy to make and the possibilities are endless.  I also think they would make wonderful teachers' gifts, party favors, and handmade holiday gifts.


Like these DIY ideas? PIN this post for later . . . 

What would your child draw on his or her personalized bag tag?

Share your ideas with us in a comment here.

Craft with Glitter Fabric Paint Pens on Denim for DIY Back-to-School Fashion Fun

Thank you to Oriental Trading Company for providing some of the supplies used for this DIY back-to-school fashion craft.  All opinions expressed are my own.

In some parts of the country, the first day of school has already arrived, but where we live, we still have a few weeks of summer vacation left.  This is usually around the time our children start to get bored.  Well, a fun craft is always a great boredom-buster.  Check out our latest craft idea and see how easy it is to get creative!

My 10 year old daughter is very much into bling.  She loves graphic tees, emojis, and expressing herself with what she wears.  That's what inspired me to turn this basic denim jacket (that's been hanging on the same coat hook since last fall) into something she'll reach for first when choosing a jacket to wear to school.


Decorating Denim with Glitter Fabric Paint (and Charms) . . .

SUPPLIES NEEDED:

plain denim clothing item

glitter fabric paint pens

round cans, cups, bowls of varying sizes

rhinestone heart charms

sewing needle

clear or invisible thread

scissors

craft sticks (optional)

THINK about what you want to put on your denim item.  Then decide where each design will go.

Want to add an EMOJI?  Lay your item of clothing out smoothly on a flat surface.  Then place a can or a cup down where you would like to add the emoji.  Use the glitter fabric paint pen in the desired color and carefully add dots around the can or cup to create a perfect circle.

What kind of EMOJI?  You can find all sorts of examples of emojis online.  My daughter requested a cat and a girl with sunglasses.

TIP #1: Keep in mind that the glitter paint looks much lighter when first applied.  The glue that looks white now will dry clear, leaving only the color of the glitter behind.

Want to add a PEACE SIGN?  Again, use a stencil to create your circle based on the size you want your peace sign to be.  We used a large bowl to create the design on the back of my daughter's denim jacket.

Use more than one color!  To make your designs pop, use more than one color.  You can create your design with double lines, like we did with our peace sign pictured below.

TIP #2:  It's okay to create your design freehand.  My daughter thinks it adds an artsy look to her jacket.

Express yourself!  My daughter loves art, so I added a pencil doodling a heart on one of the jacket sleeves.  My daughter also loves Taekwondo.  That's where the "Peace - Love- TKD" came from.

Say it with WORDS!  In addition to the words on the back of the jacket, I also added my daughter's name down one sleeve.  I also added the word "art" on one shoulder above the pencil.  Again, I used two colors for all the text.  Simply choose your main color to dot out your words.  Then go back and use a contrasting color to add dots in between the existing dots.

TIP #3:  I found that the silver glitter fabric paint did a great job offsetting almost any color, so I used it as my secondary color throughout many of the designs.

What happens if you GOOF?  If you make a mistake with these glitter fabric paint pens, you can carefully lift the paint off with a tiny piece of paper towel.  There may be a hint of glitter left behind, but it usually isn't noticeable.  If it is, then you can always paint over it.

Add paint effects!  Since my daughter is very artsy, I thought I'd add an abstract paint effect to the back of her jacket.  This was super-easy!  I just put 3 or 4 dots of paint on the end of a craft stick (as shown below).  Then I would tap the paint around on the fabric.  Next, I used the craft stick to spread and smear the paint around.  I repeated these steps using red, silver, and blue glitter fabric paint until I was satisfied with the way it looked.

Add some BLING!  If you'd like to add a touch of hardware to your denim item, you can sew a few charms on by hand.  I chose to add 3 heart charms to the points of each chest pocket on my daughter's denim jacket.  I let her pick the colors of the charms.

Check it out!  My daughter can't wait to wear her new and improved jacket to school this fall!

What designs do you think would look awesome on denim?

Let us know in a comment here.

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How to Make Your Own No-Sew High-Low Hem Shirt from a Men's or Unisex T-Shirt

This post has been written in partnership with the Red Bubble Affiliate Program.  Thank you to Red Bubble for providing the Buffy t-shirt, created by an independent artist, for our DIY fashion project.  All opinions expressed are my own.

There are certain silhouettes in tops that I find to be particularly flattering on most body shapes.  The boxy high-low t-shirt is one of them.  It hides any flaws you may have around the middle and still provides coverage in the back for those of us who want to be more modest when wearing leggings or skinny jeans.  Even though the high-low hemline is something that is extremely popular at the moment, it seems to be difficult to find them in casual t-shirts.  I also have trouble finding women's t-shirts with a boxy hip-length cut.  There are so many cute t-shirts out there, but the girly fit is too form-fitting for my taste and the unisex t-shirts are too long.  I often forgo buying printed t-shirts I like because there does not seem to be a shirt style that's a good fit for me. That's why I decided to try making my own hip-length high-low t-shirt out of a unisex t-shirt.  Two birds . . . one stone!

Today's Project:  No-Sew High-Low Hem T-Shirt

SUPPLIES NEEDED:

Men's or Unisex T-Shirt (2 sizes up from your normal size)

scissors (sharp enough to cut through fabric easily)

pen, pencil, or chalk
tape measure or a hip-length shirt you already own

Before you begin, be sure to wash your t-shirt to get any shrinking out of the way.  My Red Bubble t-shirt does not recommend machine drying, but I needed to shrink mine, so I put it in the dryer inside out.  I am about 5'5" and purchased a unisex XXL.  The shirt hem hit just above my knees.  After machine washing in cold and tumble drying it, the t-shirt length was 3" to 4" shorter, which was perfect for this project.

Step 1.  With your shirt laying perfectly flat (front facing up), use scissors to make two tiny cuts on either side of the trim around the neckline.  Then insert your scissors into the opening you've made and cut around the neckline of the front of your t-shirt only as close to the trim as possible.

Step 2.  Flip your t-shirt over and lay it perfectly flat on your work space.  Then continue to cut around the band along the neckline on the back of the t-shirt until the entire band has been removed.

Step 3.  Make a tiny cut at the bottom seam of the left sleeve as close to the band as possible.  Then insert your scissors in the opening and remove the band starting at the front by cutting as close to the band as possible.  Then flip the shirt over to continue cutting to remove the entire band.  Then repeat this with the right sleeve.

Step 4.  Repeat Step 3 with the hem of the t-shirt.

Step 5.  With the front of the t-shirt facing out, fold your t-shirt in half vertically.  Be very careful to match up the shoulder seams, underarm seams, and hemline.

Step 6.  Fold a hip-length t-shirt that you already have in half vertically with the front facing out.  Then lay it on top of your project t-shirt and make a small mark on the bottom shirt to note the length of the shirt on top.  You can do this using a pen, pencil, or a thin piece of chalk.  If you don't own a hip-length t-shirt, then you can use a measuring tape to approximate and mark off how high up hip-length would be from the bottom hem.

Step 7.  Lay your project shirt flat with the design facing up.  Then draw a curved line connecting the mark you just made at the middle of the shirt to the bottom right corner of the shirt.  Do the same thing, connecting the center mark with the bottom left corner of the shirt, mirroring the first curved line you drew.

Step 8.  Using scissors, carefully cut along the arc you drew to create a curved hemline on the front of your shirt.

Step 9.  Lay your shirt so that the right side seam is flat on your work space.  Then carefully remove the sharp angle at the bottom of the seam so that the front hem transitions smoothly to the back hem.  Repeat this with the bottom of the left side seam.

Step 10.  Give all your raw edges (neckline, sleeves, and shirt hem) a few good stretches to create a more natural slightly rolled edge.

Now you're all done and should have a comfy and stylish new high-low hem t-shirt!  This was my first time doing this project, but I am pleased with how it turned out.  I will definitely be doing this again and am thrilled that, going forward, I can buy the printed t-shirts that I love without hesitation due to the shirt style.  If you give this easy DIY fashion project a try, let me know how it turns out!


You can find this Magic Box Advertisement t-shirt by independent artist, UtherPendragon, and other Buffy t-shirts at RedBubble.com.