Saturday, March 18, 2017

DIY-ish VHS tape purse



Last week I saw this purse on Forever 21. It was one of those things where something catches your eye and you get excited about it but then you look closely and realize it's not as awesome as you originally thought. I mean, the concept is AMAZING (especially for a rabid movie fan like me!) and the attention to detail is pretty great. I don't know if you can see it in my photos but the bag is embossed with "Be Kind Please Rewind" and "Open this side only" along the top of the purse.

Unfortunately, it says "VHS and Chill" on the label *vomit*

It also has a cheap chain for a strap (actually not the one pictured here. I threw mine in the garbage as soon as I got it -- I hated it THAT MUCH lol -- and just grabbed this one from another bag in order to take the photos.) which is acceptable if I'm just hanging something up in my room for storage or decor but if I want to actually use it and wear it, I never wear bags with chain straps.



Anyway. So I obviously bought the bag anyway. And I thought if anyone out there is as obsessed with novelty bags (esp. movie themed ones!!) as I am, and wants to be able to wear this one without Forever 21's tacky slogan, I better share what I did to my bag :)

You'll need:

This VHS bag from Forever 21
A black shoulder strap (I got mine from amazon here)
Vinyl sticker paper
An inkjet printer
My VHS label template* (download here)

*If you want to make this more personalized, you can take a photo or scan a label from your own VHS collection and print it on the vinyl sticker paper. Just make sure it's sized to approximately 3 1/4" x 2 1/8" to fit over the F21 label.




I scanned the label from one of my old VHS tapes and then in photoshop I wrote in the titles of my favorite movies. I alternated pen styles so it would look like I had recorded on the tape on different days, and I crossed out one title like I had recorded over it. If you don't have photoshop, you can just print out my label template and then write directly on the label in sharpie.

Attach your strap, cut out the label (I did slightly rounded corners when I cut it out to mimic an old VHS label) and attach the label to the bag. Since it's vinyl it'll be more weather resistant than a regular paper label and it should hold up to wear-and-tear if you use the bag.

I'm so excited about this bag now! I can't wait to wear it to the movies!