DIY Tote Bags in 3 Easy Steps with Cricut Infusible Ink

Have you ever wanted to DIY tote bags? This tutorial will take you through how to create your very own tote bag with no sewing machine using Cricut Infusible Ink. This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Cricut Infusible Ink DIY Tote Bags

Supplies

• Cricut Air Explore 2
• Cricut EasyPress or EasyPress 2
• Cricut Tote Bag blank
• Cricut EasyPress Mat
• Cricut Infusible Ink transfer sheets
  • Pink Lemonade
  • Tropical Floral
• Butcher paper
• White cardstock
• Lint roller
• Heat-resistant tape (optional)

3 Steps to Creating Your DIY Tote Bags

Step One: Create Your Design

Using Cricut DesignSpace, make the design of your choice. Rather than making my own designs, I chose a few from the pre-made design options. Here are the designs I chose:

• Be Kind Tote Bag
• Donut Tote Bags

These designs are super cute too:

• Arrow Tote Bag
• Good Food = Good Mood Tote Bag
• Fresh Farmers Market Bag
• Floral Watercolor Tote
• All of the Things Tote

Step two: Make Your Design

Once you’ve chosen your design, it’s time to get cutting with your Cricut. Before cutting, make sure to adjust the size of your design so that it fits on your tote perfectly. After your design is sized, click Make it. Make sure that you turn the Mirror on before cutting.

Once the cutting is complete, weed your design. Weeding Infusible Ink can get a bit tricky. Pulling up an edge near a cut mark and weeding from there will make the weeding a whole lot easier. Center the design onto the tote bag design side down. Secure the transfer sheet using heat-resistant tape (this step is optional but I find it’s the best method to keep the design in place so the ink doesn’t smear).

Once you’ve got your tote bag and design setup, prep your EasyPress using the instructions below.

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EasyPress Preparation

• Preheat Cricut EasyPress 2 to 385°F (if using Cricut EasyPress, preheat to 360°F)
• Place mat inside tote bag
• Insert the cardstock on top of mat inside tote bag to prevent bleed through
• Lint roll tote bag
• Cover tote bag with butcher paper larger than heat plate
• Preheat tote bag for 15 seconds
• Remove butcher paper from top of tote bag

step three: Infusible Ink Application

It’s super important to get the stacking order right before you apply the infusible ink to your tote bag. Follow the instructions below exactly.

• Place design face down (liner side up)
• Cover with clean butcher paper larger than heat plate (butcher paper is included in your Infusible Ink Transfer Sheet package)
• Press with light pressure at 385°F for 40 seconds (If using an original Cricut EasyPress, press with light pressure at 360°F for 100 seconds)
• Lift the press slowly
• Slowly remove the butcher paper
• Slowly remove liner while warm (Note: If transfer sheet is still sticking, remove with tweezers).

How to Care for Your Tote Bags

Caring for your bags is super simple. Just keep these few simple things in mind when washing and your bags will stay good as new.

• Machine wash inside out with cold water and a mild detergent
• Tumble dry low or line dry
• Do not use fabric softener, dryer sheets, or bleach

Give Back With Your Bags

As a blogger I honestly feel like a part of my influence is to not only give back to my community but also influence others to give back. Donating and volunteering is something that I have been doing with my family for a while so when Cricut asked me to design a few DIY tote bags for a good cause, I was happy to jump on board. Hunger and homelessness is a problem in nearly every community across the country. By donating canned good and non-perishable foods you can help families in need. With the tote bags I created they can get their donations home in a more practical way. Rather than carrying home their donations in heavy, bulky cardboard boxed these DIY tote bags can serve as an alternative to getting their donations home. The bags are reusable so they can use them on every trip they need to make to the food bank. If you’re looking for a local food bank to make a donation to, head to Feeding America to find the food bank closest to you.

Not sure what to donate? Here’s a good list to start with.

10 Items to Donate

1. Canned meat & chili
2. Vegetables (preferably canned)
3. Canned fruit
4. Pasta sauce
5. Non-perishable snack items for children (i.e. granola bars, juice boxes, applesauce)
6. Macaroni & Cheese
7. Low-sugar cereals
8. Peanut Butter
9. Instant Oatmeal
10. Toothbrush & toothpaste

This is the perfect little project to do with your kids without any sewing. Looking for more fun DIY projects? Check these out here.