Paint a Craft Bag

Ok, so short story goes something like this…I used to collect handbags. Now I’m trying to repurpose my bags and use them as storage, but I want them to be special. I have a new theory forming that when you turn something into art it is much harder to throw that item away. Like suddenly it is divine because you did something creative with it!

I bought this bag at Macy’s a couple of months ago. The first time I used it my husband said it just didn’t look like me. If my husband disses something I wear I cannot bring myself to wear it again, otherwise his comment is always just hovering in the back of my mind. He has way better fashion sense than I, he is more classy and I am more anything goes. So I only used this bag twice and then it sat collecting dust. :(

I decided to paint the bag and use it to store art supplies. When I researched the material the bag was made of it said plastic coated canvas. So basically the bag is a churched up plastic bag! Don’t even get me started!

I put down a little light purple liquitex basics paint to add a tint and then layered black acrylic paint over that. The purple kind of took the edge off the black paint and made it look subtly gray. It grunged up the bag some but the print on the bag still showed through.

Then I painted the pocket. I had this insect stencil book that I bought thrifted on Poshmark, so I used the general shape of a dragonfly and then altered it a little to be more my style. The angel is one of my folk art symbols that I have used a lot over the years.

I did add some text on the back of the bag, just painted in cursive. I wanted a reminder to live in the present! I might go back over the back and redo some of the lettering, but I’m pretty happy with how the bag looks! It is so ready to hold my precious art supplies, and has lots of pockets for all my needs!