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Hello!
I was at the craft store and I got inspired and decided to make a cigar box purse. They had great handles and I have a large cigar box at home.
Has anyone else made these? Does anyone have any tips or suggestions? I've never done this before and I'd actually like to use it as a purse if I could. :)
Abigail
*bump*
Good question!! I just started my own and need tips on putting the handle on the box without destroying the box (I'm good at destroying stuff :P) and what kind of clasp is best for this.
Hi Titanica,
These are fun to make - like you I've made the box part. I need to add the handle and the clasp now - but I'm not very mechanical and wanted to know if there was anything I needed to know about it.
I got my purse handle and clasp from a company called Out Of The Box Purses - they make them for people making cigar box purses. The website address on the back of the label here says www.nicolecrafts.com.
What does yours look like? I made two. One is gold with yellow piping and has sunflowers decoupaged on it and inspirational sayings and words decoupaged on it. The other is a mermaid purse (I'm a Pisces). It has two mermaids (from a card I found) on it, and then pink and purple ribbon curled around the card, with seashells at all 4 corners. The box is gold with purple ribbon all the way around it, and dark green on the sides. :) Now I need to carry a purse in each hand!
What does yours look like so far? :)
Abigail
one thing i found is that the handles they sell in the store - the screw on parts - are often too long for the thickness of the box. get some washers so you can make them go on snugly. hope that made sense!
Abigail, so far mine has pages from a japanese book on each side...Torn up, like I would have done with newspaper. It's older, so the pages are kind of yellow...I love how it looks. It makes the paper match the boxe a bit better. :)
I want to put something on the front of it, some sort of character...I think I might spell my name in Japanese across the front (I LOVE anything Japanese...just wish my attempts at learning it were easy!)
I'm thinking I might use a bamboo handle...now I just have to find one! :P
Hi Titanica,
I'm pretty sure this place has bamboo handles for cigar box purses:
http://www.umei.com/purse-handbag-cat1.htm
A friend of mine gave me the link when I told her I was having "technical" difficulties putting my purse together. She thought I might need a new handle.
Your purse sounds great - and that style will go with so many outfits! It will look great especially with red I think. Perfect for summer. What a great idea. Do you have a digital camera? I don't yet, otherwise I'd show you what mine looked like.
:) Abigail
Awesome! Thank you so much for the link!
Yes, I invested in a digital camera with my scholarship money my first year of college...I'm doing webdesign, so it's wonderful for my major. That, and I get to take pictures of anything and everything now. ;)
I will definitely take a picture and let you see what it looks like when it's done! Right now it just looks like a box with japanese print on the sides. :P
Cheaper than ordering purse handles online: HomeDepot, drawer pull section. $0.95 to $5.00. Excellent selection. The only "draw" back (sorry, couldn't resist), is it is more of a handbag, than something you can put over your shoulder or wrist. I don't have any examples to post, as I've sold/donated to charity drives all of mine, but more are in the works. You will need a decent drill tho.
I've been toying with the idea of just drilling in holes and using sneaker laces for more of an over the shoulder/wrist bag.
Hi Titanica,
I'm on scholarship too! I'm a graduate student (and in my 30's) but I totally know about that. I'm working on my thesis now and doing some crafts to de-stress from working on such a big project. My thesis project is something that interests me but part of me is totally panicking 'cause its gotta be like 100 pages. Yikes and double yikes. :)
Jackierocket - you sound like a TOTAL cigar purse maker pro! I am so impressed - even without photos I am completely sold on this Home Depot thing. I'm going this weekend. Yes I understand about the drill thing and a friend is doing that for me. I'm not very handy about the house, I just make it look pretty. lol :) Thank you so much for joining our conversation! :) Abigail