Make This! Playing Card Purse

Heading to Vegas or Atlantic City this summer? You really should whip up this show stopping laminated card purse!

On the set of Creative Juice - Vegas Baby Episode 603

Supplies:
1 Deck of Old Playing Cards (26 needed)
Hole punch
3/16” eyelets (154 needed)
Eyelet setter & hammer
¼” decorative red ribbon (7 yards)
Yarn or plastic canvas needle
Scissors
Laminating Sheets
2 sheets of 8.5 X 11 inch decorative paper
2 sheets of 4.25 X 8.5 inch decorative paper
1 sheet of 4.25 X 11 inch decorative paper
Glue stick
Two 10” lengths of ¼” diameter clear plastic tubing
1/8” dowel or bamboo skewer


1. Purse front and back: Glue stick 8 cards to one sheet of 8.5 X 11 inch sheet of paper. Repeat for the second sheet of paper. Laminate the sheets, trim the excess lamination from the edges.


2. Purse bottom: Glue stick 4 cards across the 4.25 X 11 inch sheet of paper. Laminate the sheet, trim the excess lamination from the edges.


3. Purse sides: Glue stick 3 cards 4.25 X 8.5 inch pieces of paper. Laminate the sheets, trim the excess lamination from the edges.

4. Use an eyelet hole punch and an eyelet setter to attach the eyelets. Use a marking pen to mark each eyelet placement before setting them. On the sides of each panel that measure 11”, set the first eyelet ½” from the edge and set 11 eyelets total spaced an inch apart. On the sides of the panels that measure 4.25”, set the first eyelet at 5/8” from the edge and set 4 eyelets total spaced an inch apart. For the sides of the panels that measure 8 ½”, set the first eyelet ¾” from the edge and set 8 eyelets total spaced an inch apart.

5. Thread the ¼” ribbon through the yarn or plastic canvas needle. Beginning with the purse front and sides, lace them together with the 1/4” ribbon. At the first hole, leave a 5” tail of ribbon at the back of the hole to use for tying later. Lace through one side panel eyelet, through a front panel eyelet and repeat for security. Whipstitch the remaining holes together. Do decorative lacing at the top edges, where no panels are being laced together. Keep lacing and add the remaining side and back. After the sides, front and back panels have been laced together, tie off the end of the ribbon after lacing it twice through the last hole.

6. Next lace the bottom to the purse, using the same technique.

7. To make a handle: thread a length of the ¼” ribbon through each length of tubing by folding an end over a dowel or skewer and pushing it through the tubing. Tie each end of the ribbon through an eyelet at the top of the purse to secure the handle.