Darjeeling Diary
In case you didn’t know I’m a little obsessed with Wes Anderson films. Since I can’t live in one I decided to dress like I’m in one.
Of all of Wes’ films, The Darjeeling Limited is my long running favourite. I mean I love them all but this is at the top of my list. From pretty much the beginning of this movie I was obsessed with the suitcases that the three brothers take with them on their train journey through India. The suitcases are equal parts quirky and classy. At least in my mind so make of that what you will.The originals were by Louis Vuitton so unless I planned on living without one of my kidneys that was never going to happen. After some internet digging I was so excited to find that you could buy replicas of these bags! That joy of discovery was pretty short lived once I saw the price tag. Even just for a replica, they were $1,599. That is just not in my budget. But if it’s in yours you should definitely check them out: Very Troubled Child Products
I’d always had this in the back of my mind for a DIY but truthfully I didn’t think I could make anything that would meet the expectations I had for it. BUT then while I was shopping for a 2018 diary/planner I found this one at Winners for $7.99.
At $7.99 I wasn’t too bothered if the DIY went totally sideways and looked awful and made me want to give up on ever trying anything again. So I went for it! The first step use tweezers and a seam ripper to remove the ‘2018’ label. It can be a little tricky but patience and caution are key.
Debated back and forth about what method to use. At first, I thought about buying leather stamps and dye but that got real expensive real quick. Instead, I went with stencils and paint. I found a plain font similar to what the initials on the original bags looked like… and then forgot it before I could write this. Sorry, but also any plain font will do the trick. For the animals, I google searched ‘animal silhouette’ until I found the types I wanted. Then I printed five or four sheets until I finally figured out what size they all needed to be. If you can get it on the first go I would recommend that but it’s not in my skill set.
Cut out your shapes and make a plan for how you want them arranged and spaced. I for sure didn’t do this step and had to try and erase pen. So be sure and follow this step. Tape or hold them down and trace around them.
Since the paint is going onto a darker surface I added a base of white for all of the shapes and did about four layers for the initials.
Mix all your colours until they are exactly what you want and just fill in the outlines. After the paint dried I outlined them again in pen. Be careful how you do this the ink can bleed if you’re not careful.
My paint is from the dollar store and I was worried the colours would chip off over time. Put my fancy outdoor shoes on and added a layer of clear spray paint. It’s frikin cold where I live so I let the diary air out for a little outside and then brought it inside to dry. I applied two coats which covered it perfectly.
I’ll be honest 2017 was a really difficult year for me. It felt like a disaster journey for sure. So having this awesome book to plan the new year in has me so excited. This turned out way better than I ever expected and it’s quite simple to do! Bring on 2018! I’m ready.
-H
