DIY Glitter Tote Bag (with free horseshoe print out!)

This week I decided to make a cute new tote bag for taking to Etsy School and the London Summit. I opted to go with a lucky horseshoe design because I need all the luck I can get! Hee hee! I have a horseshoe tattoo on my ankle and a real one in my studio... I absolutely adore them and decided to use it as inspiration for this week's Glitter Tote Bag diy.

This week's diy is a little fiddly, but not that tricky to make. I've created a free print out of our horseshoe illustration, which you can download and print out here.

You will also need a blank canvas tote bag, some freezer paper (or find my alternative here) a pencil, xacto knife, iron, a paint brush, mod podge and oodles of glitter.

Once you've printed out the horseshoe illustration, place it under your freezer paper and trace the design onto the paper side. As you'll be cutting out all of the black areas, you need to mark up some guidelines so you know where you'll need to place the dots and highlights as shown above. 

Carefully cut out the black areas using a sharp knife. Be careful to take your time here - small and short cuts rather than long ones will give you a better shape. Take particular care when cutting out the dot's and highlights and place them aside somewhere safe - it's easier to keep the left one separate from the right so you can match them up correctly later on.

Place the freezer paper gloss side down onto your canvas bag and then line up all of your highlights as shown above. It doesn't matter if they're not perfect, but do your best to match it up (use the initial print out for a guide if you get stuck). When you're happy with it, use your hot iron (take off steam setting) to stick it all into place. Take time doing this as you want to make sure that none of the edges will peel off when wet.

Mix your glue 50:50 with your glitter. Paint a thin layer around the edges of the template and work your way inside till it's all covered. I've painted over the dots here, but in hindsight it's easier to leave some of the white paper showing. 

Once the first layer has dried, add a second coat. I've found that two coats was enough to cover everywhere, but if you see patches once it's dried, give it a third layer for good luck :)

Now that's dried you're ready to unveil your masterpiece!
Start by peeling off the outer paper. You'll need to take care when taking it away from the sides of the glue, but if any of the paper tears off, you can always gently go round it with your knife.

Once that's done, carefully cut around one side of the circle (try to see if you can pick it up with your nails first - I cut my finger on the weekend so struggled with that!) and gently peel off the rest of the paper circle. Do this for all the little extra highlights and details added - it might be slow work, but they make all the difference :)

If you have any little scraps of paper still stuck to the glue you'll be able to scrape it off with your knife when you're done...

*Ta*Da*
Super cute tote bag made up and hot to trot! I cannot wait to take this bad boy out on the town. So quick and simple to make but it looks so effective; I think it would make an adorable gift for bridesmaids as well as students plus it only cost pennies to make. Perfect!

Don't forget to download our print out ... or you can always create your own of course! What shape would you make? Perhaps you have a special occasion to make one for too :D

Happy Making!
xox