Altered Purses

When is a scrap book not a scrap book? When it's a purse.

This project takes a long time, but it's nice for long summer days when you can let the different stages dry outside. We got the idea from Violette's Folk Art.

1. Find an old purse with a smooth surface -- vinyl or leather.
2. Sand. Cover with gesso (a white acrylic base). You may have to do one side at a time and let each one dry.
3. Paint with another coat of acrylic in a color you like. (We chose orange.)
4. When the purse is dry, add layers of imagery.

Possibilities include: fabric squares (from fabric scraps or pieces of clothing you can't wear anymore); colored paper; images from magazines, books, the internet, or clipart; simple stickers such as reinforcer rings and office dots. Black and white engravings stand out against a colorful collage background. We added some ribbons on top once we had our images layed out. These delivered a set of clean connecting lines to the busy layers beneath.

For gluing: put a generous layer of ModPodge or another decoupage glue on the surface of the purse. Add your paper or fabric elements, and then put more glue medium on top. The extra glue helps your pieces stick to the purse, and also seal it.

Note: Some items may be less colorfast than others. The funky look of this project, though, is pretty forgiving.

Purse designed by Hannah, age 9.