DIY || #31 || Hasta la vista, baby!

Alright, so this DIY was supposed to be a stocking stuffer but, alas, Christmas proved to be much more hectic than I planned! However, I bet there are some of you that forgot to gift something to that distant cousin who showed up unexpectedly for the holidays and now you're scrambling to put something together..or maybe, over Christmas, you became one of the lucky few to get a plane ticket present to welcome the New Year on a tropical and peaceful island. Regardless of what you'll need it for, I'm back with a DIY that is both classy and quick to make - a leather passport case with gold lettering! Read below for the easy step-by-step instructions...

What you'll need: Leather swatch (got mine in aqua color at Michael's), Letter stamps (purchased at Michael's), Gold Marker Pen, Permanent Glue, Scissors, and passport/pencil for sizing.

First, layout you passport on the inside of the leather swatch, drawing a light trace around it with a pencil. Next, trim the swatch so there is about 1" extra across all sides, with an extra .5" especially on the vertical sides in order to make flaps (this will make sense in the pictures). Afterwards, taking one side, fold the leather over the front cover of the passport, dotting glue on the corners. Repeat with back page of the passport. Be careful not to glue your passport to the leather! It should fit snug in the leather but also loose enough to take it out. Repeat adding glue if the leather doesn't stay down at first and lay under a stack of heavy books for a couple hours until it keeps its shape. Alternatively, for the sewing inclined, you can stitch the flaps under a sewing machine for a sure hold. Once that is set, simply take your rubber letter stamps and, one by one, coat a letter using the gold marker pen and press hard into the leather. Write whatever you wish! That's it! 

Follow my colorful mess on some of my newest social media accounts: instagram and twitter, and let me know what you think!