DIY Under $10: heart tote

Supplies needed

Items I purchased:

• Red, dark pink, light pink and white acrylic paints – 69 cents per bottle at Meijer

• Canvas tote bag — $2.99 at Hobby Lobby

• 1 pack of pencils — $1 at Dollar Tree

• Poster board – 50 cents at Dollar Tree

Items I already had:

• Scissors

• Tape

• Pencil

Directions

1. Fold your poster board in half. On the bend of the poster board, draw half of a heart with your pencil. Cut this half out so that when you unfold it, it is a full heart. Discard the heart and keep the poster board with the heart cut out of it.

2. Take this cutout and place it onto your canvas tote. Tape it down around the edges so it doesn’t shift or move while you paint. This will act as the stencil for your heart.

3. To create the heart with the gradient of colors, start with the darkest, which for us will be the red. Use the eraser side of your pencil and dip it into the red paint. Start painting circles onto the bottom fourth of your heart cutout. As the paint gets lighter, continue to dab your pencil onto the canvas.

4. Once you have covered the bottom fourth of your stencil, continue to the second portion with the dark pink. Use a separate pencil eraser for each color.

5. Repeat this step for the light pink and then finally for the white.

6. Once most of it is covered, go back through and just lightly add in a few of the colors into each of the sections. So add a few lighter red dots into the dark pink or light pink and vice versa.

7. Once you are happy with the look of your heart, let everything dry completely and your tote is ready to go. This can be washed in your washing machine and will not fade or peel.