Ever had one of those days when you just want to throw away an old pair of jeans or those that don't fit you anymore? Don't! Save those jeans and try this project. This is an unusual approach to decorating a purse like an American flag, because what you get in this is a mix of different kinds of 3D related textures, like beads, felt and foam. Now, it's your turn! Grab an old pair of jeans an a plain old purse and dress it up like the flag of the good ol' U S of A! Great to carry to your next 4th of July BBQ or at any time of the year when you want to show off your true patriotism!

Step 1: Getting Started

To get started, you need to gather up the following materials...

an old pair of jeans or parts of an old pair of jeans already cut off (my sister gave me the jean legs cut off so I can use it for this project)
a small plain purse (my mother gave me the red purse from one of her gift drawers)
hot glue gun
scissors
decorations, such as felt, ribbon, foam, star beads (extra points if they're all in red, white and blue)

Step 2: Jeans Cut-Off

First of all, if you haven't cut off a part of an old pair of jeans yet, do so. Otherwise, cut open your jean part, preferably the leg, because they have all of the material to work on.

Step 3: Purse Prep

Once you've cut off how much jean material you want, lay it out flat, along with your purse. Now, take your hot glue gun and glue your jeans onto your purse.

Step 4: Getting There...

At this stage, you should get something like in the picture above.

Step 5: Decorations - Ribbon

Now, it's time to decorate! First, you can take some thick ribbon, like I did here, and cover up the sides and bottom of your purse.

Step 6: Decorations- Stars

For the stars, you can find some star shaped beads, or like I have in this photo, some white stars cut off from a plastic star bouquet. I realized that there were only 10 of those white stars. So, I figured "What the heck?" and just use 5 on each side of the purse. Hey, not all American flag related crafts are created equal anyway! LOL!

Step 7: Decorations- Stripes

Finally, we move on to the red and white stripes. For my purse, I used red felt and white foam cut to size so it can fit within the frame of the purse. By the way, the three decoration steps should be performed with using a hot glue gun, so that everything can stay in place.

Step 8: Done!

And here's your 3D Patriotic purse!

Pro Tip: If you're not game into working with the items used, you can also use a star shaped stencil, painter's tape and fabric paint and paint the American flag on the jean. I obviously ran out of time to show you this part, plus I don't have fabric paint to show you. But, you get the idea with this one. If you choose to do this, however, simply paint the American flag with fabric paint right onto your jean.

Step 9: Old Jean Magic

So, that's how you go from an old pair of jeans and an ordinary purse into a true American fashion staple--get it?

Introduction: 3D Patriotic Purse