So, you want a custom hand-painted tote. Now comes the fun part: deciding what goes on it.
At Weekend Art Company, every custom tote is painted by hand and designed around you. Your tote can celebrate a favorite place, your dog, a special trip, your wedding, your hobbies, or a completely random collection of things you love.
And you definitely don’t need to have the whole design figured out before you order. You can come with a very specific vision, a few inspiration photos, or simply a list of things you love and we’ll go from there.
Here are a few ways to make your custom tote your own.
The Hometown Tote
Turn your favorite place into a tote.
This could be your hometown, the beach town where you spend every summer, your college town, your favorite vacation destination, or anywhere that feels like home.
Your design could include local landmarks, street signs, restaurants, native flowers, architecture, state symbols, beach accesses, boats, lighthouses, or those little details that instantly remind you of a place.
The Favorite Things Tote
Can't pick just one theme? You don't have to.
A favorite things tote brings together all the little things that make you, you. Think your morning coffee order, favorite cocktail, dog, books, hobbies, flowers, sports, foods, places, sayings, or anything else you love.
The result is almost like a little painted scrapbook you can carry around.
The Pet Tote
Yes, your dog absolutely deserves to be on your bag.
Your pet can be the main focus of the design or one small part of a larger collection of illustrations. Add their name, favorite toy, bandana, tennis ball, or another little detail that makes the design feel even more like them.
And dogs aren't the only option. Cats, horses, birds and other pets are welcome, too.
The Wedding Tote
Turn your wedding into something you can actually use long after the day is over.
Wedding totes can feature your venue, flowers, monogram, wedding date, signature drinks, cake, pets, meaningful locations, or other details from your celebration.
They also make a fun gift for brides, bridesmaids, newlyweds, or someone celebrating an anniversary.
The Travel Tote
Have a trip you'll never stop talking about? Put it on a tote.
A travel-inspired design can bring together favorite landmarks, hotels, restaurants, foods, drinks, transportation, scenery, and memories from one destination or an entire trip.
Think Italy in tote form. Or London. Or your annual girls' trip to Hilton Head. You get the idea.
The House Tote
Your home can become part of the artwork, too.
A custom house tote can feature your current home, childhood home, first house, family beach house, or another property that means something special to you.
Keep it simple with the house itself or add surrounding details like landscaping, your pets, house numbers, favorite flowers, or little nods to the neighborhood.
The Hobby Tote
Pick something you love doing and build the entire design around it.
Golf, tennis, pickleball, needlepoint, mahjong, gardening, baking, reading, boating, fishing, Pilates — pretty much anything is fair game.
You can stick with one hobby or combine a few of your favorites into one design.
The Celebration Tote
A custom tote can also mark a specific moment.
Birthdays, graduations, bachelorette weekends, girls' trips, anniversaries, retirements, new homes, new babies, family vacations — if you're celebrating it, we can probably paint it.
Add names, dates, locations, inside jokes, or other details to make it specific to the occasion.
Or... Something Completely Different
These are ideas, not rules.
Some of my favorite custom projects start with a message like, “Okay, I have kind of a weird idea…”
If you have something specific in mind, send it my way. And if you know you want a custom tote but have absolutely no clue what should go on it, that's okay too.
Part of the custom process is taking your ideas, references and favorite things and turning them into a design that works together.
How the Custom Process Works
Choose your tote, tell me about your idea, and share any inspiration or reference photos that might be helpful. From there, I'll create a design specifically for your bag.
Because every tote is individually designed and hand-painted, no two are exactly alike. That's kind of the point.
Whether it's a bag full of your favorite things or a design centered around one meaningful place, the end result is something made specifically for you.
Ready to create yours? Head to weekendartcompany.com to start your custom hand-painted tote.