Redhead Baby Mama | Atlanta Blogger

Doing the Thing, Living the Dream.

  • Home
  • About
    • Media Kit
  • Food
  • Create
    • Crafts
    • Home Improvement
    • Holiday Inspiration
  • Disney
  • Style
  • Travel
    • Travel
    • Atlanta Things To Do
    • Atlanta Eats
  • Entertainment
  • Parenting
    • Baby
    • Toddlers
    • Kids
    • Mommy & Me

Hand Painted Cinderella Purse with Gus Gus

June 19, 2019 5 Comments

  • Share
  • Tweet

I took a LOVELY trip to Disneyland this spring with a bunch of girlfriends from the Disney Parks Moms Panel. The occasion was Dapper Day on the West Coast, and we wanted to Disneybound as Princesses, in any fashion we chose. I immediately knew I wanted to build a Pink Cinderella dress from a 1950s pattern, but felt daunted on where to start. In order to get the creative juices flowing, I started with accessories. One needs a purse at a Park, so I chose an inexpensive leather bag from Poshmark and decided to make it over as a Hand Painted Cinderella Purse with Gus Gus on it.

Gus Gus Cinderella Purse Hand painted Pinterest Image

Painting Supplies Needed

You can’t paint a purse without paint! I already had several acrylic paint colors that I needed. In this case, green, black, white and pink, because the brown of the purse was going to act as the “base color” for Gus. Less painting for this initial, experimental project. I also picked up 1/2″ thin ribbon that looked like a measuring tape for fun. I didn’t even know how I was going to incorporate it yet!

Gus Gus Cinderella purse craft from brown leather purse and craft paint

Removing the Purse’s Leather Strap

I did know that I wanted the leather woven strap gone. It’s too 90s, and unlike the “young folk” today, mistakes were made in that era and I am not really keen on repeating them. A few simple snips later and the leather rope was removed and tossed. I considered weaving the measuring tape through the gold chain purse strap, but decided against it as the ribbon would buckle.

removing a leather piece from chain on a purse

Cinderella Character Design

Next up, choosing the incarnation of Gus Gus. Located on Pinterest is a dead-end image of Gus on a lunch sack, and I knew that was it! I cropped, zoomed and printed out a copy of Gus, covering the back with graphite and tracing it onto the leather. This old leather purse was porous, meaning I had only one chance to trace and get it right, lest I be left with error lines. After the pencil lines were drawn, I went over them again and connected the dots to make sure I could see what I was doing.

tracing a Cinderella mouse Gus gus onto brown leather with pen and paint

Next up, a thick Sharpie was handy to overlay the graphite lines and cement down what I was painting. Much like my Project Studio crafts, the Sharpie lines are thick and rich, allowing me to use them as the cartoon inking and not have to erase them. 

tracing an image onto brown leather with pen and paint

Hand Painting Gus Gus

Now came the fun part. The acrylic paint in its primary color form can be a bit… runny? You’ll want to add a dash of white into whatever color you are using so the paint appears more opaque and less thin. Lighter colors may need a second coat or additional coat to mask your brush strokes.  After the purse was dry, the 11th hour before my California Disneyland departure, I had the stroke idea to wrap the measuring tape around the uppermost handle. This gave a spot of color and small detail of sewing where nothing else would. An homage to Gus Gus’ assistance in sewing!

handpainted cinderella mouse Gus Gus on a brown leather purse

Hand Painted Cinderella Purse Finished Look

VOILA! An $8 Poshmark Leather purse turned into a fun Dapper Day Accessory with Cinderella’s Gus Gus on it! While I was a total goober and focused my energy on getting photos of the Parasol, I don’t have a photo of me all dressed up with the purse! I think I was unsure that the brown leather matched the whole cohesively. I regret not taking a full photo! Instead, I offer you this styled-at-home shot of the finished product:

brown leather Hand painted Gus Gus Purse with measuring tape strap

You can also see my Hand Painted Cinderella Parasol I made for Dapper Day at Disneyland. These were the first accessories I decorated for the occasion and I adored it! You can also find my Dapper Disneybound Orange Bird look here!

  • Share
  • Tweet

Filed Under: Crafts, Disney, Style

Comments

  1. Meghan Cooper says

    June 19, 2019 at 3:11 pm

    I love Gus Gus, he is so cute. This came out great!

    Reply
  2. Kyla says

    June 25, 2019 at 6:03 am

    So cute! I love Gus Gus, and I really like your Disney DIYs.

    Reply
    • Redhead Baby Mama says

      June 28, 2019 at 9:03 pm

      Thank you so much! Is there a character you’d like to see me do? I love inspiration! 🙂

      Reply
      • Gabriel Hernandez says

        July 28, 2019 at 9:45 pm

        I’d love for you to do one based on who framed roger rabbit!

        Reply
        • Redhead Baby Mama says

          July 29, 2019 at 8:37 am

          Oh my goodness I LOVE this idea. Maybe a pair of custom vans? If I can find a bag to paint, I’ll do it that way. Thank you for the inspiration!

          Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Search

Hey y'all! I'm Lindsey, a southern girl residing in Atlanta. Welcome to my little corner where I share my anecdotes, crafts, recipes, & dose of Disney as I raise my 2 kids! Thanks for following along... I'm so glad you're here! Read More…

Get RHBM by Email

By clicking the subscribe button you agree to receive email updates from us.

Sponsors

I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Facebook

Looking for Something?

Past Post Archive

Get RHBM by Email

By clicking the subscribe button you agree to receive email updates from us.

Copyright © 2025 by Redhead Baby Mama · All Rights Reserved · design by Sweet Theory Designs · Web Hosting By RFE Hosting

Everywhere