Hand Painted Reusable Shopping Bags (Mother's Day Gifts)

We are very blessed to have many different mothers we celebrate on Mother's Day. We have several great grandmothers to honor and three grandmothers. Last year for the grandmother's we enjoyed making our Mother's Day Flower Pots. This year we wanted to make another hand painted project and decided to create reusable shopping bags.

A few years ago we had made butterfly prints with our hands and decided to base our bag theme on the same butterflies. We added in some grass, flowers, and a sun to create a more colorful bag. 

Materials included acrylic craft paints and a white canvas bag. I found these totes at JoAnn fabrics for $5.99 each. (A few prepainting notes: iron the bag for a smoother painting surface. Also, I would recommend putting paper or cardboard in the bag to stop the paint from bleeding through.) 

To begin with I painted the boys' hands to make the butterflies. Because we were making three bags I found it easier to paint one hand three times and print it onto all three bags before painting the other hand. To make it look more like a butterfly we printed the hands so the palms joined together. 

After we painted the hands and let them dry I used black acrylic to paint the butterflies' bodies. Next we  used sponge paints to create grass and the sun. 

I find that lids of produce containers (like lettuce, tomatoes, and strawberries) make great trays for sponge painting. 

Big Brother painted the grass and flower stems. With my help, Little Brother painted the suns. (I dipped the sponge in the paints and placed it where it would go, he helped me to pat it down.)

After the grass painting had dried we used wine corks to paint flowers and flower petals onto the stems. 

When the whole project was dry I used a black permanent marker to draw on antennae and to write each grandmother's name onto their bag. 

We love how cheerful and colorful these bags turned out. We might even have to create some for ourselves to use. Our plan is to fill them with some of each of the grandmother's favorite treats from the grocery store. 

Have you checked out some of the other fun Mother's Day ideas on our Spring Pinterest Board?