Are you as in love with these personalized travel bags as I am?  I don’t mean to pat myself on the back, but I’m really excited with how they turned out.  My crafts have a 50/50 chance of coming out great or failing miserably.  And I embrace it.  But I really like these.  And I am super happy to announce that I am doing a little blogging over at King’s Hawaiian Bread.  Head on over there to see my travel tips for keeping kids entertained and what to pack in these personalized bags for that long car ride.

I’m sure you are looking at these and thinking, “where are the names?  You said this was personalized.”  Great observation.  But I have been on long car trips before and I know that some sketchy humans can be found in rest stops and tiny coffee shops in the middle of nowhere.  I’d prefer that they don’t know my kid’s names.  Instead, I chose to personalize them with images that go along with words that we associate with each kid.  My oldest son said the word “bicycle” very early in his talking life and has remained a fact that the family talks about.  My youngest son said “banana” a lot.  Maybe not quite as advanced as “bicycle” but still super cute.

All you need is a blank canvas tote from your local craft store.  I bought a 3-pack for about $10 and I’m sure you can find a coupon to use to get them even cheaper.

First start out by painting a pattern on the bag.  For the polka dots I simply used a pencil eraser and paint.

For the other bag I decided to tape off a geometric pattern and color each area a different color.

Once the paint is dry, you will need to prepare your iron on transfers.  Just follow the directions on the iron on transfer package.  But remember, if you are using any words, print the reverse image so that the words come out correctly.  I always print out two in case something happens to the first one.  And I really hate having to stop in the middle of a project to go print another one.  I know my skills and weaknesses, you may not have to print two.  And for that I am super jealous.  Cut out around the image.

And then iron them on.  Again, follow the directions on the transfer paper.  If you iron on the paint, it may melt a bit and then smear on the canvas bag.  Not that that happened (do NOT look closely at the polka dot bag…).  Let it cool and then peel off the backing.

There you have it.  Personalized travel bags for your kids.

Head over to the King’s Hawaiian blog to see what I packed in the bags and tips for making your road trip enjoyable.

If you had to pick an image to represent your kids, what would it be?

*This post was not sponsored by Kings Hawaiian Bread.  The sponsored content that I am doing for them will only be found on their blog.  The DIY portion of the post was created for my readers.  Isn’t getting a DIY post so much better than me just putting up a link to go read my blog post over there though?