Paint DIY

I've always loved the idea of having a custom-painted handbag. I mean, could there be anything cooler than a one-of-a-kind piece?

But I first got the idea to paint one on my own — rather than relying on the skills of a pro artist — after spotting awesome fellow blogger Alyssa Lau's Coach Swagger bag DIY.

She made it look so easy (even though I have a sinking suspicion she's probably pretty good with a paintbrush already!), so I thought, why not give it a shot?

I grabbed my tried-and-tre leather bag from Le Chateau (see it before here and here!) and got to work painting.

All in all, I'm pretty happy with the results. See the quick step by step below.

Happy Wednesday and thank you for stopping by.

Bag: Le Chateau c/o 

A video posted by Aleesha Harris (@aleesha_h) on Jan 26, 2016 at 4:02pm PST

What you'll need:

1 x pack sponge brushes 

(it's best to have one for each colour so there's no cross-contamination of shades)

3 x acrylic paints in colours of your choice 

(or as many as you want!)

1 x leather bag

Step 1: 

After practicing your strokes and designs on a piece of paper, begin painting the bag with the colour you want to stand out the most. 

This is the shade you want to see the most from — I chose gold — as the other two colours will be a light and a dark accent. 

Place them on the bag in the design and placement you want. I chose to go heavier on the bottom and then up the one side of the bag. 

Less is more ... so start with a little at a time and then add. Remember, this paint won't come off easily, so it's easier to add more than try to fight with a remover. 

Let dry for 30 mins. to one hour.

Step #2:

Take the darker of your colours and add some more brush swipes. 

I chose to concentrate them more along the bottom so there was slight gradient effect. 

To be honest, I wasn't over the moon with how this brown-hued gold shade set on the leather, so I didn't add as much of this colour as I had originally intended.

Note: Don't put too much paint on your brush as it will cause unsightly blobs. 

Let dry for another 30 mins. to one hour.

Step #3:

Finish with your final paints (you might have more shades than me!) by accenting where there were blank spots. 

I chose, again, to concentrate along the bottom with a more sparse colouring at the top. 

Allow to dry.

And that's it! Now you have a custom-painted bag! I can't wait to style this ... so stay tuned for upcoming posts.

Have questions? Leave 'em in the comments below and I will get back to you asap!