Tuesday, October 9, 2012

{Vintage Suitcase Makeover}

When people know that you are crafty, they sometimes present you with opportunities to work on items you wouldn't have even thought of working on.  It's then that your creativity gets tested.  During the summer, a lovely lady who works at the local thrift store told me she had a metal suitcase that belonged to her mother that she would love for me to makeover.  She brought me the suitcase, told me colors she liked, and then handed it over to me.
 This is the piece before.  Many of you probably would have loved this suitcase just the way it was, and for precisely that reason, I was REALLY worried about messing it up.
I mean, it had so much character already, and it was a family heirloom.  But after asking the lady for the ok to spray paint the piece, I lightly sanded it and primed it with Rustoleum primer.
After priming, I sprayed it gray, and then I used my Silhouette to create stencils from contact paper.  I used spray paint to paint the designs, and it was very tricky to do.  Because the base coat was slippery, I had some seepage, but I carefully masked those places off and touched up the paint.  (I think I put a coat of clear spray paint over the design, but it's been a while since I did this, so I can't exactly remember.)  I created some fabric flowers and hot glued them to magnets.  This way I could stick them around the design, and they could easily be removed if the lady didn't like them.  Then it was all over except for crossing my fingers and toes that she liked what I came up with.
I met her at her house, nervously knocked, and handed her the piece when she opened the door.
To my relief, she loved it!
She even liked the fabric flower magnets.  :)
Photobucket

14 comments:

  1. It turned out beautiful and I lobe the added flowers.

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  2. How awesome! It looks adorable and I'm glad she liked it. :)

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  3. looks like just what she ordered. bet she love it! wow..i see things like this and realize how very little art talent I have!! good for you, you have it!
    I am your newest follower..pls follow back if you can.

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  4. You are SO talented! Thanks for linking up To Whimsy Wednesday!
    Kelly,
    Smart! School {House}

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  5. I love that those flowers are magnets. What a brilliant idea. Great transformation. I am a huge fan of anything with a monogram.

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  6. I have a vintage trunk i found at a thrift store that I can't wait to re-do. I was thinking of modge podging the entire thing with pages from my favorite books but I, like you, am scared to ruin the vintage of it. Love your suitcase though! It turned out great!

    Newest follower!

    Tara

    http://tarabelle-adropofink.blogspot.com/

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  7. I love this!

    I'd love to have you link up at my Weekend party!

    http://westernwarmth.blogspot.com/2012/10/weekend-warmth-5.html

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  8. oooh pretty--love the flowers too!

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  9. Love this makeover, the color is absolutely perfect - and love that's it metal ( for magnets )
    Your newest follower - would love to have you come by and follow back when you have the time :)
    Hugs,
    Suzan

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  10. found you at tatertot's weekend wrap up! i got my hands on a vintage train case... i only touched the inside, because i didn't have the guts to do the outside! there's a party at my place if you feel like linking up!

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  11. Very cute! I love the accents you added. Thanks for linking up with us! :)

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  12. This is sooo sweet! I just adore the makeover you gave it.. it's like a whole new suitcase! I keep looking for vintage suitcases at garage sales so I can make one too!
    Love it!
    xoxo
    Amie

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  13. this is so adorable, it makes me want to hunt for junk in our garage!

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