Vintage "Scrabble" box purse

[rackycoo]

I made this for bigmouth in the Secret FOC2 swap. She had on her wish list "a purse made out of something that's not supposed to be a purse". When I saw this game at the thrift store, I snatched it right up. I flattened out the top and bottom of the box and covered them each with clear contact paper for protection, then put the box back together and cut the opening on three sides. I reinforced the top part with some foam core before attaching the plastic handles with ribbons, and then lined the new purse with game themed material. An elastic ponytail holder and one of the game pieces made a perfect clasp. The box is a little beat, but I think that's part of its charm. (That and the fact that the woman pictured is having entirely too much fun playing a word game!) Here's the outside:


And here's the interior:

[megaknits]

That is absoulutely amazing 

Great job!!

[bluebubble]

Wow!!! Thats fantastic! i love it!   

[cyndiq]

i really like this, you are clever. was it very hard to line it. So did you reinforce all the sides to add strength? Is it ordinary masking tape or duct tape? I wish i had the skill to try this. any chance of simple tutorial? I would love to try this. cheers cyndi

[Margarita Miss]

How is it that you manage to find the perfect fabric to line the purse and make it all come together?  Of course, a game piece for the clasp - you have amazing ideas.  Oooh to get inside that crafty mind of yours.

[Stifflersmom]

I was so hoping you'd post this seperately from the swap. Now I can give it the "This Rocks" that it deserves.
I love it!

Don't you think this would make a perfect theme for a Craft Challenge?

[rackycoo]

i really like this, you are clever. was it very hard to line it. So did you reinforce all the sides to add strength? Is it ordinary masking tape or duct tape? I wish i had the skill to try this. any chance of simple tutorial? I would love to try this. cheers cyndi

Thanks. In answer to your questions, yes, it was hard to line it. Thank goodness for E6000! I did not reinforce the sides, but there are two thicknesses of the cardboard because before I cut the opening, I glued the top of the box to the bottom. The outside of the purse was covered with contact paper when it was flat, and then put back together with LOTS of ugly duct tape on the inside. The outside corners have a little clear packing tape on them. I wish I didn't have to do that, because it's shinier than the contact paper, but I didn't want those corners to separate.

How is it that you manage to find the perfect fabric to line the purse and make it all come together?

That fabric was one seriously lucky find at equilter.com. I entered "scrabble letters" and this is one of the two or three fabrics they had. The color was just perfect, and although I wish there were more scrabble letters on it, I still thought it was a great match.

As for a tutorial, I promised stiffersmom I would make her a bag like this in a private swap, so I'll take pictures as I go along. The problem is finding the perfect box to use, so it may take a while. I have been looking for a couple of weeks now, with no success. I know one will show up sometime, though!

[lhackett]

I love it Rackycoo!!!

it's so great!

[Bigmouth]

I hit "This Rocks" already.  I've been waiting to do that since you sent it to me.  I thought I'd share a couple pictures in this gallery, too.

First.  Our friend rackycoo seems to believe in the "use every piece of what you  hunt" principle.  She also made magnets (my initials) from extra game cubes, revamped an Altoid tin to match (she used the game fabric as an accent), and sent along the shaker cup (I'm using it as a pen cup).  She said she wished the fabric had more Scrabble letters--but she still found my initials in there.


Second.  Here's how any rational person would react if they found such a thing in their mail:


As I'm sure you can all imagine, I get comments on it every time I leave the house.  A woman at the post office commented on it three times before I even left the counter.

Can you believe what came from this woman's mind, and how brilliantly she executed it?  I can't.
Thank you again, rackycoo.   

[Bigmouth]

I guess I need to take you to task on the "entirely too much fun playing a word game" thing.  My brother and I have been known to end our modified Scrabble games with aching abs from laughing so hard. 

...Then again, we're both nerds with English degrees.  Hmmm.