The Jessa Bag: Pastel & Neon

If you would have told me even three months ago that I would be purposely be creating something with neon paints, I would have told you that you are just crazy. Plain crazy.

Since I’m trying to take more risks and incorporate more trends in my wardrobe without looking like a 15 year old who just ransacked Forever 21, I thought I’d take the opportunity to create a more mom-friendly tote that I can use at the beach or the library or whatever I have to haul around huge amounts of kid junk. You know how it goes.

The Jessa Bag: Pastel & Neon is a marriage of awesome paints and a ridiculously cheap canvas tote I found on clearance at Target. Love.

I’ve named this bag in honor of my dear friend Jessa who first inspired me to try-out neon in my wardrobe. Truth be told, I mocked her throughout SNAP for having neon clothing, but I was just jealous she could pull it off so easily.

Materials:

canvas tote bag * masking tape

Americana Paints in Lemon Yellow, Pink Chiffon, and Sizzling Pink

foam paint brushes * vinyl stencil

Don’t you think these colors look amazing together? The yellow turned out much brighter than I had anticipated, but I am actually in love with the final product, so I don’t mind that much. I just wanted to give you a heads-up for when you complete your own bag. 🙂

1. Start preparing your bag for paint by making sure it is completely clean. Apply masking tape to cover the handles, should you need to to.

2. Apply a strip of masking tape along the bottom edge of the tote. Tear a small piece of the tape to serves as a guide for even spacing of your lines.

3. Apply the masking tape across the entire bag front.  I had the tape go directly over the handles. Make sure to press the tape *firmly* onto the bag. This will help prevent any paint from seeping through.

4. Begin painting with the Americana Pink Chiffon. The layer of paint should be thick. Skip the painting one of the stripes near the top.

5. Allow the Americana Pink Chiffon to dry completely. Touch up the stripes when it’s dry to make sure that no white is showing through.

6. Paint the unpainted stripe with the Americana Lemon Yellow. Just as you did before, make sure to apply a thick layer so no white shows through. Allow the bag to dry overnight.

7. Cut a stencil out of vinyl or contact paper in whatever shape you’d like. I chose a scroll-y look and went with it. You’ll want to make sure that your stencil is sticky. The standard sheet of paper isn’t going to cut it for this project.

8. Apply the Americana Sizzling Pink to the stencil. I used three really generous coats of the paint, letting each coat of paint dry in between applications. When the final coat has dried, carefully peel the stencil off to reveal the final product.

It’s also a great idea to heat-set the paint to make sure your Jessa Bag stand up for the long haul. I found this tutorial that I liked.

Linking Here:

Sumo’s Sweet Stuff * Skip to My Lou * Oopsey Daisy