Purse Hack: Backpack Strap

With a European vacation in the works, I suddenly realized my need for a serviceable "travel" bag. It must have a zipper, it must have hidden inner pockets, it must be cute and it should be comfortable. A backpack would be ideal, but I hate the tourist look and little leather ones around here are A FORTUNE. When I went to the used clothing store, they had something adorable. For R$400. Oops, I missed the Louis Vuitton label.

Being cheap, I came up with a hack for a purse I already owned that fit all the other specs but the comfort one.

I went looking for a second strap...and was so proud of my color memory today, as the strap I found is the EXACT same shade as the bag!

I apologize for the poor quality of these pics...I'll do better next time!

The original bag had a long shoulder strap, as well as decorative ties and cinches that are given actual utilitarian value in the backpack hack.



This belt I picked up at a street fair was cute-ish and stretchy. I am saving the buckle to use with scarves. Safety pin the scarf in and voila! You have a belt!



The belt-turned-strap. I just used superglue to connect the ends. See the pink on the end? That's a bit of stuck-on napkin I'll have to soak off. I was trying to keep superglue off my fingers! The wooden rings are from an old jewelry project. (I'll probably stitch the ends down in addition to the glue, to add to the strength of the strap).



I then threaded the original strap through the top loops of the bag so the hooks hung down the sides. Then I threaded the stretchy strap through the bottom, decorative straps and snapped the two ends together.

Close-up:




The final product:



The best part about this is that it's totally convertible. And as the bag itself is full of magnets (it converts to a folded-over clutch), I can use it as a backpack, shoulder bag or nighttime bag without doing anything more than removing a strap. Three different bags in one!

What do you think?