Decorating a Vintage Suitcase

diy

May 21

I needed something to use as a display for some of my journals and ephemera packages at a little cafe where I sell a few of my things and I thought that a spruced up vintage suitcase would do very nicely. It would look fun, it’s versatile and those suitcases were built to last forever so I knew it would be durable and sturdy.

Turquoise vintage train case upcycled with acrylic paint and collage. Vintage inspired recycled suitcase with retro collage and ephemera images.

It was originally dark blue and initially I spray painted it pink but I didn’t think it was vibrant enough. I decided that the turquoise blue would stand out and be more eye catching. Once painted it was still too bland for me so I thought it would be fun to try some collage.

I did a small test collage on the bottom first to make sure that the texture of the suitcase wouldn’t look weird under the paper maybe causing it to ripple and not lay flat. I glue the images and then ModPodged over them and let them dry over night and it was fine.

Turquoise vintage suitcase upcycled and recycled with acrylic paint

I decided not to paint the hardware because I liked the silver contrast of the metal with the turquoise colour of the case. I didn’t paint the handle because I sure that the paint would flake off so I just left it. I also did a glue test with some images on the bottom of the case with ModPodge to make sure the colours in the pieces I was gluing down did not run or smear.

I glued the images down with matte ModPodge and after I let them dry, I brushed over 4 coats of ModPodge letting each coat fully dry between applications. It turned out better then I had hoped for. For me, the trick was not overthinking it and not worrying about making “mistakes”. I glued at will and had fun :)