Original Tampex Purse...

Years ago, I learned to make bolster pillows from the cardboard tubes from Tampex tampons. A few years later, I came up with using them for purses. I purchase the boxes that have several sizes in them. They are specifically for this purpose. Nice, clean, new ones. You can use the insides to wipe up paint spills and apply stain....Or just throw them away.

Please note that the Tampex purses are "Casey Originals" designs. I would appreciate it if you acknoledge them as such. These are for personal use only. Please, no resale.

I use the tubes for all kinds of minis. Canisters for the kitchen, powder boxes for the bedroom and other such things. There are tutorials on all of those on the blog.

I did show how to make a barrel purse from one of them very early in the blog, but I don't think that I have ever shown the squished one before. At least, not how to do it.

These purses are about as simple as it gets. All you need is sharp scissors and glue. First cut a small piece of the tampon. I usually just squish the tube and cut it with scissors. Nothing fancy...No measuring. The largest ones make big bags. The smallest ones make evening purses. For those you don't even have to make a strap if you don't want to.

You May or may not want to use a piece of card stock to make the flap heavier. I did on this one, but not on the brown one that you will see at the end. On this one, the flap is covered with leather and is a separate piece. On the brown one, it is just a continuation of the outer skin of the purse.

You will need two pieces of leather to cover either end of the bag. For this one, another piece that is cut to just fit around the tampon. Leave a little more than you think that you need, because you will be adding bulk with the end covers.

Put glue on the edge of the tube and sit the end on a small piece of leather. The same with the other end.

Then cut Vs in the edge. When you bend this around the tube, it will make it easier to fit the leather smoothly.

Glue down all of the points on the bag ends and around to the back of the flap.

Next you will glue the leather body to the tampon, covering the points of the ends. Trim if needed. The strap is bent into a continuous loop and the ends glued to the top of the purse. Then you can glue the flap over the top edge. The straight part across the back and the rounded flap to the front. Did I mention that this flap can be any shape that you want, just as long as you make it the same width as the top of the purse? Have fun with it.

Here you see the completed blue lizard skin purse, with a clasp that was cut from a bell cap with six little prongs.

The brown one is essentially the same. For added interest, I glued a contrasting piece of leather under the flap and added a small, flattened bell cap for a clasp. The handles on this one were simply glued to the outer sides.

The last step is to hide them from Tessie...Oops! Too late!

See you tomorrow.