French Themed No Sew Tote Bag

Bonjour Mes Amis!

Today I thought I'd take a bit of a break from sharing Christmas decor, and instead show you a tote bag that I've created.  I made several of these as Christmas gifts.  I love giving presents that I've made, and try and come up with ideas of things that people could actually use!

The inspiration came from the oh so talented Carol over at the Polka Dot Closet.

If you've never visited, you are in for a real treat!

When I first saw her pretty tote bags, I just knew that I wanted to create some as well!

Click here to see Carol's lovely bags.

So here is my Frenchy version, below!

 What was especially appealing was this was a no sew project!  (I am not much of a seamstress!)

I found the canvas tote bags at Hobby Lobby. They came three to a pack.

I just love this French bird graphic, it is one of my all time favorites at The Graphics Fairy.

So I knew it would be perfect for the look I was going for!
Believe it or not, I've never used my printer to transfer images to fabric, so I was a bit nervous about doing so.
Carol recommended "Quick Fuse" iron on fabric sheets, by June Taylor.  When I couldn't find them at Hobby Lobby or Michael's, I searched on line and was surprised to find the best price directly from June Taylor!
I followed the directions on the package, and was surprised at how easy it was!

Ok, now comes the fun part, the embellishments!  I was in love with the gorgeous fabric flowers that Carol creates.  She gave a wonderful tutorial how to make them here.  

I was more than a little unnerved at first creating the flowers, as you hold the fabric over the flame of a candle, which creates the curled petals.  Well, I got the hang of it, and had alot of fun in the process!

The flowers were the only thing that I actually had to sew (just attaching all of the layers of petals together).

The rest was accomplished with fabric glue, also Carol's suggestion.

I really love how my flowers turned out!  For their centers, I added pretty pink flowers that I picked up in the scrapbooking section at Hobby Lobby. They have a touch of glitter, 'cause you know how much I love my glitter!  I had wanted to add some vintage Austrian crystal earrings (Carol used gorgeous vintage jewels for her centers)  that I had on hand for their centers, but the color just didn't go with my project, so I'll save those for another time.

I also embellished the totes with pretty creamy cotton lace with a vintage feel, also found at Hobby Lobby.  I happened to have this adorable petite aqua pom pom trim in my stash,  which I thought that was the perfect addition!

I had so much fun making these totes, I guess now I need to make one for myself!

Here is a close up of the flower.

And one last look at my Frenchy tote.

Thank you Carol for the wonderful inspiration!

Next week I'll share with you a few more shots of Christmas around our house.
Have a great day!