Painted Briefcase Tutorial

I have to admit, I first set out to find a vintage suitcase to fill with dress up materials for my niece. But, alas, a cute vintage suitcase was not be found. I knew the hard briefcase I found at Goodwill had some potential though. So after a quick brainstorming with my sister, the arts and craft case was born.

Here are the materials you need for this project:

Hard vinyl briefcase or suitcase
Primer
Acrylic craft paint
Pretty scrapbook paper
Decoupage medium
Waterbase Satin Varnish (found near the craft paints)
Paint Brush

Steps:
1. First, thoroughly clean the outside and inside of the case with some soap and water or cleaning spray. You don't know where it's been!

2. Prime the case for painting. I used two coats on each side. Make sure you cover every inch (the handles, bottom, etc) and allow to dry between coats.

3. Paint the case. I used my tried and true paint: Acrylic craft paint...the kind that's less than a dollar a bottle. I have a large plastic bin filled with these paints in a myriad of colors. Do most crafters have these paints on hand or is it just me? It might be easier to just spray paint the case. Personally I love painting with a brush. If you use spray paint, let me know how well it works out. Make sure you cover every inch of the case, including the handles and the locks. I used two coats of paint. Let dry in between each coat.

4. Now it's time to get creative. Pick out some coordinating paper. Cut strips of paper to size for the trim and for the locks. Use decoupage medium to glue down the paper. Slather the medium onto the bottom of the paper, place it where you want it, then brush more decoupage medium on top of the paper to ensure it's not going anywhere anytime soon (or ever, for that matter. Use this method to decorate the front and back of the case as you wish: the recipient's name, polka dots, flowers, cars, butterflies, the possibilities are endless. Let the decoupage medium dry.


5. Next, apply the satin varnish. This seals the paint and gives it a pretty satin finish. I used two coats of varnish. This also comes in a spray which would probably be easier to apply. Let dry between coats.


6. Fill the case with goodies that the gift recipient will enjoy.

I hope this helps. If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me or leave a comment. Also, if you use this tutorial, please let me know! I can't wait to see what you come up with.

Every briefcase should be pink with polka dots

My niece, Elissa, had her fifth birthday party this weekend. Not one to show up empty handed, I brought her this briefcase.


Oh don't look so concerned! Of course I beautified it before actually giving it to her. Whatever life this briefcase had in the past (I think Wall Street, no?), it was destined for a pink polka dotted future. I primed, painted and decoupaged it.

I made sure every inch was covered and pretty.


Then I filled it with all kinds of craft goodies.

Including this special notebook.

Not bad for an old briefcase, eh?

Handmade Holidays Recap: The Boys

It was a lot of work, but it paid off in the end. I was proud to give something I made to people I loved and the gifts were well received. The only people who didn't get something handmade were the adult men on my list. The men in my life are hard to buy stuff for, let alone make stuff for! Maybe next year when I'm a knitting machine, (yeah, Katie!*), they'll get something handmade. Fortunately, my nephews are young enough that I was able to think up stuff I could make for them.

Nathan's mommy plans to do a nautical theme for his room, so I painted some canvases to add to the decor. This was actually Nathan's birthday present. Since he is also a December baby, his birthday present made it onto my handmade holiday list. I haven't painted in a while and I forgot how much I enjoy it. I am thinking about taking commission orders to sell. Let me know if you are interested.

For Christmas, I made the boys some personalized bunting to decorate their rooms (Ryan's is not shown here). I got this idea after seeing Jennifer's beautiful baby bunting. This was a quick and easy project and so cute in the end.

Besides being well received, these gifts were also great because they were made with materials I already had on hand.

*Katie and I are going to take knitting lessons in 2008.

Edited: Just when I was starting to wonder why there were no comments on this post, I realized the pictures weren't showing up. I've uploaded the pictures again so now I hope you'll be able to see the gifts I made for the boys.

Bed Bugs

When my sister Kathy was expecting her first child she enlisted my help to decorate the nursery. She didn't want anything too cutesy but she wanted something original. It also had to have ladybugs. So one afternoon, I packed up my paint box (my sisters often tell me to "bring the paints" when I come to visit) and brushes and set out to work.



To make sure we didn't go overboard with the bugs, we cut out paper shapes about the size that we wanted to final bugs to be. We then taped these to the wall in various layouts before choosing what we liked best. I learned this trick from a magazine a few years ago and have been utilizing it ever since. The whole process really only took a few hours. I used basic craft acrylic paints (gotta love 'em!).


The best part about this day was the delight my sister had when she discovered that she can paint afterall! For the longest time she would insist that she can't paint and that I got all the creative genes in the family. But after I showed her how to paint a ladybug and bee, she was painting her own like a pro.


It is no surprise that my niece loves anything having to do with ladybugs now.