Traveling Brightly

My parents cleaned out their attic and discovered, along with lots of other stuff, my mother's first set of suitcases. (My dad says he found old vacuum cleaner bags she was saving) She got these Samsonite suitcases in the 1940s. Cool! These are the suitcases that came with us on every vacation I went on as a child. I couldn't let her get rid of them. I took them home to Austin where I stuck them behind my bed for months. I kept wondering what to do with them. Besides being wonderfully sentimental "baggage" they are heavy, a little worn and kinda ugly.

It was summer and I was planning a trip to the beach in North Carolina. I was headed for my grandparent's house in Davis, North Carolina, the same place we'd go every year on our family vacations. I really wanted to bring the suitcases. I decided a little paint job is just what they needed.

I used Liquitex (Value Series, Student Grade) BASICS acrylic color paints. I had an idea for doing beach images on two of the bags and painted the blue background then the other details on top. I didn't use a sketch. I wanted something loose so I just did it. Once the paint was dry, I lightly sanded with a fine-grade sandpaper. I sealed the paint with Minwax Polycrylic for a protective finish. I let the sealer dry, sanded and put another coat of sealer. I decided to paint the biggest case with cow spots which was also an easy pattern to paint and didn't need any preliminary sketching.

I packed my suitcases and headed for the airport. I was surprised at how many comments I got on these bags. I was stopped at bag-check where the guard looked through all three pieces, not exactly a desired response to the paint job. The cases made the trip without getting too banged up. Now, when I'm not using them for travel, I use them for storage in the family room. The cow spot one matches the pillows and throw my mom made for me.

I love carrying these cases even though they're a lot heavier than my black, soft-sided, just-like-everybody-else's, suitcase. They have personality and are sure easy to spot coming off the conveyer belt at the airport! What I can't figure out is how my mother packed for all four of us for a two week vacation. When I go visit my parents I use all three bags for me (the kids each have their own bags) and we only stay for a long weekend!

The set of suitcases after the transformation. The cow spots, palm trees and the beach.

This is the "before" shot of the cow spots suitcase.

This is the middle-sized palm tree case with the "Van Gogh-ish" sun set.