$3 Monogrammed Travel Bag (Perfect for Father’s Day!)

Hi everyone! We had to run into Target this weekend for a few things(#targetrun) and I would be remiss to NOT swing by the “Dollar Spot” while I was there! I swear that corner has some sort of magnetic pull on my body! Well, this weekend while I was perusing, I spotted THIS little bad boy:

A cute little travel bag for $3. I KNEW he needed to come home with me and that he had the makings to be a perfect monogrammed Father’s Day present! (Do you have a hard time like I do coming up with gifts for the fellas in your life?) 

Time Warp

But……Let’s back up a bit!

Does anyone remember “back in the day” when everything in the “Target Dollar Spot” actually was one dollar? This was shrewd marketing on the side of Target. They trained us for a few years to get into the habit of thinking “It’s a dollar, I’ll go ahead and get this cute little[insert $1 item you found]” and you proceed to throw one or two things into the cart.

Let’s flash forward to present day.

You are meandering down the aisles of this bargain-area-mecca and you spot something great. (Remember the shrewd market-training you were conditioned to for years? Yep, the “toss in the cart and go” method that Target wants you to continue?

Well HOLD ON sister!

Those little things you place in your cart these days might not be $1. Target has gone “HIGH-End Dollar Spot” on us! I saw an item this weekend that was $7! (Some of you might be laughing at me, but for this bargain hunting gal, $7 (and even the $3 and $5 items) definitely make me pause and consider more than I used to! 

SOLD

But THIS $3 item? Only paused for a minute.

The zipper works like a charm y’all. That is always something I test- ride first when getting a little bag. Because that can be no fun (and I definitely don’t want to torture the gift receiver…ahem….my husband.) “Here’s a lovely little bag for you honey. I’m sorry if it drives you batty every time you use it, but at least I got a good deal!

NOPE! None of that going on here folks! It looks like it will work great! I’m not sure how the faux leather will hold up, but since this isn’t going to be used all that often (clearly we need more mini-vacations in our lives!), I decided to take a risk. (Just call me a “wild one”-ha!) 

For this project, I decided to do one of my favorite craft hacks: freezer paper stencils! 

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Here is what you will need for this project:

• • freezer paper (You can find this at Walmart in the same section as the aluminum foil.)

 

• • fabric paint (or acrylic paint with a bit of fabric medium added)

 

• • foam brush

 

• • computer & printer to make a simple monogram (or you can free hand it if you choose)

 

• • exacto knife

 

• • tape

 

• cutting mat (or another surface that is safe to cut on-a thick piece of cardboard can work in a pinch) 

Steps to Make Your DIY-Monogram

1. Print out font of your choice in monogram (Make sure you pick a font that will be wide enough to cut out your letters easily.) 
2. Tape your monogram paper down on cutting mat and tape a section of freezer paper on top. 
   
3. Not it’s time to make your stencil! Use your exacto knife to carefully trace around the lines to cut out letters (NOTE: If you have a letter that has a circle inside-like my “R”-remember to SAVE it!)
4. Using high heat (NO steam), iron the cut freezer paper stencil onto the fabric (NOTE: Shinier side should be down! Your iron should only be touching the duller/papery side). Pay attention to edges/corners. (ALSO: Don’t forget to iron on those saved circles if you had any-like the middle of my “R.”) 
5. Now it’s time to paint! Use a dabbing motion when painting with your foam brush. If you are mixing paint and textile medium, you do not want it to be too runny or it will bleed under the stencil more. (I only needed one coat of paint (this literally took 30 seconds), but this will probably depend on your paint and fabric. Doing dark paint on darker fabric won’t show up very well and some paint colors might change color when applied on different fabrics, so you might want to do a test spot to make sure the color is how you want it!)
6. Let the paint sit for a bit (until it is mostly dry to the touch) and then carefully remove the stencil. 

Now, I will be completely honest. This little bag was a little too rounded and couldn’t lay flat for all of the edges of the freezer paper to iron down well (from step 4 above). So I KNEW from the start that the paint edges were not going to be clean and crisp and that I would need to create a border around my letters. (Remember? I was being a crazy “wild one” with this project!) I actually didn’t mind this! More room for creativity! SO, if you are using this bag, keep that in mind (or pick another item that would lay flat for your iron and be MUCH more likely to produce nice clean edges)

Monogram Details

To clean up those edges, I used some embroidery floss I had on hand. (I have a lot of this stuff left over from cross-stitch kits from when I was probably 10 years old! Can we say craft supply hoarder? I actually purged a lot of things last year, but my little bag of embroidery floss made the cut!)

I just did a back stitch along the outside of the letters to give them a nicer, clean edge also make them a little more spiffy! (The sewing took about an 45 minutes and was a fun little project!) 

Don’t feel like sewing? You could use a paint pen to carefully outline your letters! 

Here is a tip I used to make sure all of my stitches were even: I placed a piece of tape on my thumbnail with 2 lines drawn with a sharpie. 

The Finished Product

I love the little handmade touch the green stitches give the monogram! 

Husband’s Bag Essentials:

Jason has tried LOTS of razors. He’s had electric ones, MANY kinds of disposables, he’s even been a member of the Dollar Shave Club (they have great customer service! They just weren’t right for him…). But the Schick Hydro is his all time favorite! (Really! Kind of crazy that he has been through SO many! SO if your fella has had a hard time finding a razor that works well for him, maybe try the Schick Hyrdo out!) 

He also has gone through the SAME thing with deodorants. No joke. So, same deal. If you husband has tried a BUNCH and they just aren’t working for him, try the Dove deodorant below. 

The four things above are the “top items” I was told were his “tips and recommendations” for other fellas.

What are the “essentials” your husband would add?