Friday, July 05, 2013

From Boring Kid Suitcase To Monster High Fashion Bag

A few years ago Goddess got this bag as part of a hand-me-down thing from her God-Sister Jordan. We have received many of Jordan's outgrown things over the years and this one was kept in the closet with Goddess' Zhu Zhu Pet collection until she narrowed her collection down after her Monster High obsession took over. She is seriously obsessed and longs to own everything Monster High. Her bedroom has become Monster High/Halloween (she has had a Halloween thing since the age of 3 so it is no wonder she loves these dolls). Everything that isn't "Monster Highish" has been cast out through our local tag sale site or handed down to friends.

She asked me about 4 months ago if she could get rid of this bag. I took it and put it aside in my closet because I thought it was cool and didn't want to toss it. At the time I didn't know what I would do with it but one day in May I had a light bulb moment.

When I get into a creative zone, I just run with it so usually forget to take a photo of the before product. I remembered to take this photo after I taped it. You can see the blue tape around the edges and the bottom of the handle.  It took 10 minutes and I didn't want to untape it just for the purpose of a photo.


Next I took to the deck with a can of spray paint. After our Monster High House redo which I will post about (it is AWESOME), I think spray paint is the fix for everything.

Next I put a coat of primer on it. Primer is necessary on all my paint jobs. Primer is important because it makes for a smoother finish for the layer of paint that matters.  Primer creates a smooth and consistent layer for the paint to be spread over and to bind onto. If the item isn't primed you can get a messy finish which looks awful. Krylon All Purpose Primer is my absolute favorite and I have at least two cans at all times these days. I feel like you can use any spray paint but the primer matters!


Next I put two layers of black spray paint.


Before it dried I added some glitter to the very top on both sides.


A shot of Acrylic clear top coat finished my paint job.

After it was dry, I added a wall cling decoration that we had on her bookshelf.


AND some sparkly purple puff paint to the edges.


Obviously, she now loves her very special bag which I can see I still need to remove some tape from now on this close up.

Isn't this the type of bag that a girl who sleeps in a Monster High Eye Mask deserves?




60 comments:

  1. I just love this! What a great way to repurpose the suitcase. I too, just love Krylon paint for all my crafting (well except for some metals) as it dries so fast and sprays great. The end product is awesome as is the pic of your daughter ~ yes she does so deserve it!

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    1. Thanks Robin. We love how it came out. My daughter took it to school on the last day just to show it off.

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    2. I do want to try this. I hope you see this question. Do you think that the bag would require a light sanding if it has a sheen? Or is the primer good enough? Thanks! I want to surprise my little niece with an overnight bag for when she comes to visit and I found an old bag at the thrift store today! :)

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  2. Wow! You did a fabulous job and it looks brand new. I'm coming to you to make me luggage...lol ;)

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    1. Thank you! Why throw it out when you can spray paint it?! Sure come on over.

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  3. Nice job on fixing up this suitcase! Very creative!


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    1. Thank you very much! We really love how it came out. Wish I had 10 more to do.

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  4. This changeover is wonderful. I wish I were so creative but thanks to the internet for people like you to show me what my brain can not.

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    1. You can do it too Terrie. It was literally sitting around my house for a while until I had a light bulb moment. I had no plans, just started and before you know it...wah la Monster High bag. Thanks for the compliment.

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  5. I thank you did a wonderful job & what a great idea.
    HollyW.

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    1. thank you Holly! It was really fun and I loved showing it off.

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  6. That is my biggest pet peeve about childrens toys because no sooner than you buy one toy your child has moved onto the next big thing and no longer wants the toy you JUST BOUGHT.

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    1. Exactly, Goddess has started making her beloved Littlest Pet Shop animals over. I will have to post those for you all to see.

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  7. This is so cute! How did I never know spray paint could be used on that type of surface? My daughter would love something like that. I love the purple puff paint. I actually thought it was little stones on first glance.

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    1. Sam, Great! I wanted it to look like stones or studs of some kind and thought...puff paint. I was going to stick gems but didn't want to spend money on it. Was using what I had. I bet she would love it. My daughter went crazy.

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  8. How creative you were!It can grow with your daughter for a while longer :).Love it!

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    1. Thanks so much. Yes Jackie, isn't that the best part? She loves it as she did when she first got it as a blue bag and probably even more because she knows it is the only one like it.

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  9. Very creative! Wish I could do that.

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    1. Andrea you could! I had no idea what I was going to do when I started out. It all came to me as I was going along.

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  10. Lovely project, I would like to try this one with DDs.

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  11. What a great way to upcycle this bag. It is amazing what you can do when you have a creative eye!

    Nancy
    allibrary (at) aol (dot) com

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  12. How creative and what a great way to make the bag special for a special person.

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  13. Maria you did a great job with that adorable suitcase! You are very creative my friend. Thank you for your sweet visit. Hugs,
    FABBY

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  14. although i liked the 1st bag...the way you redid it came out great

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    1. What a great idea! I would never had thought to do it. You are so creative!

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  15. Such a cute idea, and a creative way to keep a useful item usable as your daughter grows. I love it!

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  16. I just love seeing recylcing projects like this. In this day and age it's a great way to save a buck not to mention it's one of a kind and green at the same time!

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  17. You are a creative mom!

    Have a good Blue Monday, Maria.

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  18. How awesome a mom are you! I love the photo of your daughter with the mask ♥

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  19. Wow, what a special project and the end result is fantastic. Beautiful and practical, too!

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  20. This is such a fun idea. I really love how the project turned out!!

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  21. This is such a cute idea, I have two little granddaughter who just love Monsters High, I think this is as good of a recycling project as the Monster High Lab that makes different dolls from different body parts, I believe this bag would also be great to hold all those separate doll parts in... Neat project

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  22. wow that looks really good! My daughter would have loved that at that age!

    hippopurplemonkey at yahoo dot com

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  23. What a luck little girl. The transformation is amazing. My granddaughter is a Monster High fan.

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  24. How creative! I wish i had human kids to be creative with. Good job.

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  25. Very cute makeover--I wouldn't be surprised if she wanted to take that bag to school every day once the summer is over :)

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  26. How creative! I love what you did with this bag and I bet your daughter does too. Most people would have just given the bag away or donated it (me for instance:) This post reminds me I really need to find my creative side and start doing things like this.

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  27. How cute is that! My niece would love to do something like that, she is super creative.

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  28. What a great idea! I love how easily it can be customised to anyone's tastes, too.

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  29. You are so creative! I would of never thought to use spray paint for a project like this! What a easy way to repurpose old item into something totally new! Love the bling too!

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  30. I wish I knew more about crafts. I was looking for a good primer to keep handy though. I will have to try out the Krylon All Purpose Primer. You are so creative, I love it!

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  31. OMG! What a fabulous idea! Now you're going to have me running to thrift stores looking for suitcases for all of my 14 grandchildren! I can't wait to make them one!

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  32. You did a wonderful job with the suitcase. It looks like a totally different one.

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  33. That is a very clever idea!

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  34. Thanks for sharing this craft project, I want to make one, too!

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  35. That's great! You are very creative!

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  36. I am brainstorming for ideas for our nephew.

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  37. Now that is very clever. The possibilities are endless.

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  38. The bag went from ordinary to very stylin'. I also use paint to decorate and redo, with varying results.

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  39. that is such a great idea! I love the Monster High design, and it was a great way to repurpose that suitcase-it looks fantastic!

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  40. That is a really great and inexpensive way to make something custom for your child! It is an awesome idea since you can find used suitcases all the time at yard sales. Great idea!

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  41. I think this is absolutely adorable. You should try to begin designing your own bags for girls. I never would have thought about doing this in a million years.

    Jamie Brigham
    PrettyInPinkWife @ aol dot com

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  42. What a fun idea! I am going to have to attempt to do something like this for my niece -- she loves stuff like this. I'm not very creative, though.
    Digicats {at} Sbcglobal {dot} Net

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  43. How cute-my daughter would love this!
    hollow_sins@yahoo.com

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  44. I love to recycle items that I have and this is such a cute idea that the kids would love to make too! We always have old bags and suitcases around or pick one up at a garage sale or thrift shop so cute.

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  45. i am so impressed! also, there are different colors of primer that one can use depending on the paint color. I learned that the hard way when I tried to paint a room with red paint and white primer. it took 10 coats!

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  46. Very cool makeover of the bag. Your daughter is so lucky.

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  47. I love it. You are so talented and I am sure your daughter appreciates it.

    rod jackson

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  48. What a wonderful little case, and what a wonderful mother to transform it to the likings of her daughter!

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