has anyone ever made a cigar box purse? :)

[abigailamy]

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

[Craft Forums]

[titancia]

*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.

[abigailamy]

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

[CraftyChicaAZ]

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!

[titancia]

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

[abigailamy]

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

[titancia]

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

[jackierocket]

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.

[abigailamy]

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