Bag Lady

I decided that my every-day-purse was in dire need of some organizing and cleaning. It's a white leather bag, with white cloth on the inside, so needless to say, it gets a bit dingy. I've done a decent job of remembering to wipe down the outside once in a while, but the inside was starting to look pretty rough. Not to mention, the bag was starting to feel like it weighed about 50 lbs!

I dumped everything out (it was funny to see all the random stuff I'd accumulated over the past months. Splenda packets, really?). I turned the purse completely inside out so I could hand wash the insides pretty well without harming the leather. Oh, how I wish you could just throw leather in the washing machine! I attempted to spot clean the cloth with some laundry detergent (I've gotten hooked on Downy Simple Pleasures "Lavender Serenity"), but unfortunately, between the make-up stains and the white color, it just wasn't having much effect. Still, I resolved, it was nice to get the thing washed and organize everything I'd kept in it.

While letting the purse dry, I decided it was a perfect reason to switch everything over to my blue purse, which I bought at the same time as the white one. I really loved both, but I ended up using the white one more often because it tended to match more outfits. I've actually enjoyed embracing mis-matched fashion lately, so I'm not as concerned these days anyway! It really makes a beautiful accent piece.



Purse by Rosetti



After organizing and/or throwing away the contents of my previous purse, I put everything into the blue one. I was especially excited about the new addition - a gorgeous compact mirror, which I received as a gift over the weekend from one of the co-stars of a film I recently finished. It came from China, where the actor currently lives. It's absolutely beautiful with its purple jewels (one of my favorite colors). I had recently been eyeing some decorative compact mirrors at a little shop in Austin, but I talked myself out of splurging on one, so this was such a pleasant surprise!

Compact from Yinglina Jewellry

Do you have any tips for cleaning a purse, or better yet, keeping it clean? I'd love to hear your suggestions!