Looking to make some grocery tote bags? These can help you ditch plastic to preserve the environment, carry stuff more easily and all-around do great things for the whole world!
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.
Cricut asked me to help them pay it forward and spread awareness about hunger and homelessness – a cause that's dear to my heart. I grew up in a home that didn't have food security. My mom did her best to provide and shield us from the realities of hunger. That said, there were many times when we didn't know where our next meal was coming from.
I vividly remember visiting Helpline House to stock up on canned goods and toiletries. My school was often involved in fundraising, gathering non-perishable items and boxes to help families transport their goods home. I knew not to tell anyone that the boxes my parents donated to the school actually CAME from the charity we were gathering for. Oh yes, we'd been there many times – the growing box stack in the garage was a tell-tale sign that my parents fervently hid from friends.
When we'd re-fetch and re-fill the heavy boxes at the food bank, though, I knew. I knew that classmates would inevitably see us carrying them back home along our town's busiest street and they would recognize their goods coming full circle into my home.
Nowadays, my family is far from food insecure. We have everything we need, and even the luxury of contemplating various ways to carry and store all of our tasty purchases from the grocery store. I've seen an array of shopping cart bags, bins, and grocery tote ideas come through my Pinterest feed. When it was time to finally make MY family's grocery tote bags, I decided to whip up an extra set to enable a food bank family to take home their groceries in a way that isn't quite so recognizable – and is way more fun than any box!
How to Make Grocery Tote Bags
These grocery tote bags are so simple:
- Hop on over to my custom design on Cricut Design Space.
- Lay out four squares of Infusible Ink trimmed to 6×6″ on a Standard Grip Mat as shown above. I used the Splash Pad pattern because I like how the coloration fades in and out a bit as a design feature. If you aren't totally confident pressing Infusible Ink yet, this pattern lends an imperfect vintage-y vibe that works even if you move slightly and get ghosting or don't have a totally clean space and get flecks of lint in the mix when you press.
- Print the design, mirrored.
- Place your Easy Press Mat inside one of your tote bags, and roll the bag with a lint roller to clean off any excess dust.
- Carefully weed each design, then heat your first tote bag briefly with your Easy Press and tape the first design down on your tote bag with Cricut transfer tape.
- Lay butcher paper over your design and press with the Cricut Easy Press at 385 degrees F for 40 seconds.
- Remove Easy Press, peel off Infusible Ink design, and press the remaining totes.
I used my Cricut Explore Air 2 for this design, and it turned out perfectly! I love how versatile and nimble that machine is.
Mega bonus? These grocery tote bags line up perfectly with the items that local food banks need desperately. Here are their top ten most requested items:
- Canned meat & chili
- Canned vegetables
- Canned fruit
- Pasta sauce
- Non-perishable snack items for children (i.e. granola bars, juice boxes, applesauce)
- Macaroni & Cheese
- Low-sugar cereals
- Peanut Butter
- Instant Oatmeal
- Toothbrush & toothpaste
You can load up on meat in “MMMeat” grocery tote bags, canned veggies in the “Veggin Out” bag, canned fruit in the “Work your core” apple-themed bag, and pasta sauce in the “Saucy” bag. Trust me – as someone who lugged those boxes of food around when I was a kid, I would have felt WAY better with some trendy totes.
Instead of screaming, “Please don't judge my arms full of donated food,” these canvas bags say, “Look at me, I'm saving the world!”
Saving the world. Helping the community. I told you: these grocery tote bags do it all. So if you have some extra time to craft, whip these up in an afternoon and drop some off at your local food bank next time you take over some canned goods. You can find one near you through Feeding America.
Does your household have go-to grocery tote bags yet?