An Insanely Simple DIY

Have you ever found a vintage purse you love but unfortunately it has a damaged or missing handle?  Or maybe you just want to breathe new life into an old stand-by.  I have a super easy fix for you. 

You will need:
- Basic jewelry tools
- Vintage purse
- Vintage chain necklace

I found this vintage alligator purse at the antique store for $12.  It is in really nice condition but was just a little "ho hum".  I decided to jazz it up a bit with a new chain handle.

I found this heavy chain necklace at a local thrift store for $6 and detached the clasp. It was a little "pricey" if you ask me, but it does have a nice hefty feeling and all of the proceeds go to a local animal shelter. 

I then opened the two remaining jump rings and did a test run of the chain on the purse.  Adding the new chain required me to cut off the old handle and I didn't want to ruin a perfectly good purse if I wasn't going to like the end result.

I decided I did like it so I went ahead and added the new chain.  I feel like I jazzed it up a bit and now it looks a little more expensive.  Easy peasy.

If you would like to try something similar, I found this vintage alligator purse on Etsy for a little over $20 with shipping and these plastic fish bone chains on Ebay.  Please note, the hardware on the chain is silver, but you can easily switch those out for gold jump rings.