Channeling Your Inner Enid Collins

I heart Enid Collins purses. I'll shout it from the roof tops. What's not to love - kitschy designs, sparkly gem stones and they were made in Texas. I got my first Enid Collins purse 15 years ago. I spotted the sparkly bug covered bag from across the room at a thrift store and it was love at first sight. Back then Enid Collins purses were cheap and easy to find, my how times have changed. These days a quick stroll through Ebay and you can find Enid Collins purses running almost $300.00. That's a little rich for my blood. Luckily, much like Enid herself, I am a crafty lady.


Today for I Love to Create I thought we could talk about a few different ways you could grab a plain purse, a bottle of Tacky Glue and some Tulip Fabric Paint and try to channel your inner purse designer and make Enid proud.


SUPPLIES
Felt
Scissors
Fabric Fusion Glue
Vintage Purse
Tulip 3D Fashion Paint
Gem Stones
Paint
Tacky Glue


The first thing I did was settle on an sea theme. I cut out my felt in the shapes of seahorses and made one into a boy and the other into a girl. I used a combination of Tacky Glue and Fabric Fusion Glue.


After I perfected Mr. and Mrs. Seahorse all that was left to do was strategically place them on my purse. I of course had to bedazzle any empty space and most importantly 'title' the purse. All Enid Collins Purses have cute little names written on them in script and mine is called Under the Sea.


I'm not the first or the last crafter to come up with the brilliant idea of making my own Enid Collins inspired purse. Here are a few other gems I discovered.


Over at Sweetheartville we see that you can make your own Enid Collins bag on any style purse, even an 80's black leather number.


Not a purse, but still equally fantabulous is this brooch by Cathy Callahan of Cathy of California. The Alrighty Sparkle Cocktail Brooch from the book Bead Simple: Essential Techniques for Making Jewelry Just the Way You Want It by Susan Beal.


Speaking of Susan Beal she made this adorable little sparkly handbag and she used Tacky Glue too!


Ok one last post about Susan and then I swear I'm stopping. Did you see her Enid inspired Treasure Box in Craft No. 5?


I found this cute little Enid inspired owl over at Cheeky Magpie.


Love Taryn made one of the cutest Enid inspired bags I came across.


Dolls want their own Enid Collins purses, thank heavens Liz Retros made it all possible.

Amy over at The Angry Chicken made one heck of a cute Enid inspired purse.

For more Enid Collins goodness feast your eyes on all the amazing bags in the Flickr Pool. I just discovered a website dedicated to Enid's bags run by her grand daughter.