In search of Prince Charming

Once upon a time I used to pretend that I was a princess who at any moment was going to be swept away by prince charming and live happily ever after. What?  Didn't you play dress up when you were a little kid?  Well, I did, and when I played I also dug through my mother's jewelry box.  One item stood out from all the others. 


This necklace has always been a favorite of mine.  I have never had the opportunity to wear it out and about, partly because I have always felt that it needed to be worn with an evening gown. And I rarely have the opportunity to wear such attire. O.k. so I never have the chance but who's counting. Right? 

Today's style is a mix of high fashion and casual attire.  And thanks to this trend, I might actually get the opportunity to wear this little beauty out for a night on the town.  But I will need the right accessories to go with it.  This is where the little light bulb kicked on. I will need purse.  Something not too big; just large enough to hold my driver's license, some cash, lip balm and house key. What I needed was a clutch or evening bag.  And I knew just how I was going to get one to match.

I had taught a mini-album class a few months prior.  And we used cigar tins as the base of our project.  I had a stash of these left and thought that the size would be just perfect for what I had in mind.   And yes, my lip balm did fit inside!

I started by using my home-pro punch by American Tag to make a small hole on the front lip of the back cover about 1" in from the left and right side.  I threaded my string of beads through this hole followed by a brad.  I wrapped the cord around the open tail of the brads and then secured with a small amount of hot glue.  Next I lined the tin with metallic gold foil card stock which had been cut to size and had the corners rounded.  It looked good but, it needed something else on the inside.  I had just the perfect thing.  I had found these small scalloped edged mirrors at Micheal's in the scrap booking embellishments section and attached one of them with the red-liner tape from Creative Cut's and More.  The tape is strong enough to firmly hold the weight of the mirror in place. 

For the outside of the tin, I xyroned decorative paper to the front and back. Then applied several coats of a clear acrylic lacquer to give it a hard protective shell.  Then I wrapped the 1/4" red tape around the outer edges of the front of the tin and rolled in seed beads.  I made sure every available space was taken up by the beads. I wanted the seed beads to stay; so, what better way than to lacquer them too. As I applied the first coat of lacquer, disaster struck!  Remember the tape I used to adhere the beads with? Well, when it gets wet...it looses it's ability to adhere! (In case you didn't look at my profile pic, I am indeed blond!) As the beads started to slide from the tape so did the smile from my face.  I soon realized that if I put on a thin layer and propped the tin to keep the beads from sliding until the lacquer dried, I would be able to apply several other layers directly on top of the first until the beads were encased in lacquer.  And voila! I had a clutch to match my necklace. Now, to locate prince charming to complete the outfit.

I think the over all effect came out perfect; it's classy, compact and mine. :)

I, also, made this purse for a more casual daytime outing.  It's fresh and funky! And I L-O-V-E it!