Vintage Shabby Chic Pink Suitcase in ASCP - Antoinette

by Carole

I picked up a number of items from a neighbours kerb side throw out just round the corner to where we live. Among them was this suitcase. It was brown, fibre board, dirty and smelly. I managed to transform it somewhat with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Antoinette. A lovely dusky pink colour. I just listed this on ebay for sale. It would make great decorative storage or could be used as wedding prop, or even put on legs as a little bedside table or put a cushion in it for a cat or dog bed. Add little bun feet to the bottom to keep it off the ground.

vintage shabby chic pink suitcase in ascp antoinette, chalk paint, painting, shabby chic

I started by cleaning the case with a damp cloth with a de-greasing agent in it. I used Sugar Soap but I know they don't sell this in the US. It is a bit like dish washing detergent in so far as you add it to water. It is used to clean walls prior to painting.

Brown and icky

I then painted two coats of the ASCP paint using a brush, to the outside. The metal edges were painted with a rust proof primer. I painted the whole thing, including the locks and handle and then distressed it a little before applying a clear wax all over. The wax has a lovely scent to it. I knocked the metal corners and locks right back with the sandpaper as they were a little rusty. You could use a rust converter and primer before applying the chalk paint to these metal bits if you were worried about the rust coming through the chalk paint.

I painted the inside of the case with Zinsser Bin Shellac based primer to lock away any musty smells. Believe me it had musty smells! Then when that dried, I began to glue some pages of an old vintage book on classical music to the inside in a random way - more like a collage using an artists medium glue. I could not find anywhere that sells Modge Podge over here, so this is what I used. I just tore the pages out, leaving ragged edges and any bits that were left showing, I tore the pages smaller to cover. The music pages have concertos and stuff by Brahms, Chopin etc on them. The pages were already tinged with brown due to their age. If you wanted to use new pages, to make them look old you could steep them in cold tea or something to get this look. I waited for it to dry and added a coat of Minwax Polycrilic over the decoupaged pages to seal it. This should prevent the pages making another musty smell as they age and also stop the pages from peeling off.

This is the book. I have lots of pages left

I added a stencil to the top of the case. This one is a French bakers stencil. Boulangerie being French for Bakery. Du Pain is French for Bread.

The 'glue' I used for the decoupage

The stencil I used was bought online for about 8 dollars. I also bought Snow White chalk paint from a different paint range in a small size for the contrast for the stencil. I used masking tape to hold the stencil down. Some stencils have a sticky removable backing to assist with this and to prevent the paint bleeding through the stencil and making it look blotchy. You can buy temporary adhesive in a spray if you are worried about that happening to hold the stencil down firmly. Lift the stencil carefully while the paint is still wet. I touched up any missed bits with an artists brush.

I tied a new piece of twine to the rusty little key and tied it back onto the suitcase handle. Voila. Job done! There was a sticky label on the Bakelite brown suitcase handle and I removed that using rubbing alcohol before painting the handle. The handle was waxed too to prevent the paint rubbing off.