This little handbag is my latest upcycle project. It was the box for a present I received for Christmas containing beauty products, one of those that opens up into a flat piece of cardboard. I turned it into a cardboard pochette that could be used as a container for a present or simply for little girls to pretend play. All I used was old magazines, glue, decoupage glue and denim decorative paper and actual denim for the handle.
Firstly I build the box making solid by covering the inside with a few layers magazine cuttings by painting them on with vinyl glue mixed with water. As I did it this, I also made the shape permanent by securing the parts together so that it doesn’t open flat anymore. I used pegs to hold the corners together until the glue dried. The magazine layers will keep the inside solid once dry.
Once the inside was dry I moved on to decorating the outside of the box with decoupage paper that looks like denim, I used proper decoupage glue for the outside because it has a higher hardening effect and you don’t need much when you use really fine paper. For the bottom of the bag I used a stripy red and white paper to give contrast. Once the outside was dry, I gave a coat of decoupage glue to the inside to make it harder and waterproof.
For the handle I used real denim cuttings, which I made into a plat with some red string incorporated in it and I tied it to the ribbon handle that was already there.