I’m always rummaging around the discounted/clearance section of stores like Target to see what great items might be found that would be great to use for crafts. I picked up these wallets a few weeks ago knowing they’d be great for a future decoupage project, and finally got around to doing something with them this week.

You could decoupage multiple, smaller images onto these wallets for more of a collage look, but they were a perfect size to allow for a single, large image to be decoupaged onto them, so it’s almost like having a mini comic book or art print for a wallet!

Supplies Needed:

• Wallet
• Comics
• Mod Podge
• Foam Brush
• Fine Point Sharpie
• Scissors/Razor

Optional Supplies:

• Rhinestones
• Glue
• Tweezers
• Ribbon

The basic steps are of course: Apply Mod Podge to one side of the wallet. Paste the image, seal with multiple coats of Mod Podge, repeat process on other side of the wallet. Done. But there’s obviously a little more to it then that, so below is the detailed process:

I experimented with different ways to paste on the images. On some of the images I pasted an image that was larger than needed and then used a razor to remove the excess paper. On the other images I cut the image to the appropriate size before pasting it on. Both methods have their pros and cons, but I couldn’t get away from having minor wrinkles and having some of the pink of the wallet showing.

I applied about 3-5 coats of Mod Podge to each image to properly adhere and seal it to the wallet. To clean up the edges, I used a fine point black Sharpie along the edges to make the image look clean and hide any pink that was still peeking through. The Sharpie had a bit of a sheen to it, so I applied another coat of Mod Podge after I had cleaned up the edges with the marker so that everything blended. After everything had dried, I went back and peeled away the Mod Podge that was stuck to the metal edges.

My wallet had pink trim along the edges, which obviously didn’t match my now decoupaged image. Luckily the trim was lightly tacked on with glue and I was able to easily peel it off to reveal the metal of the wallet below, which was a great look for the wallet.

I had planned on adding rhinestones to the wallet, since I love to make everything sparkly, but I really enjoyed the simple, clean look of the images without anything cluttering them. So, *gasp* I didn’t add rhinestones. The benefit of adding rhinestones, or ribbon for that matter, is that you don’t have to worry about how clean the edge between the image and the wallet looks since you’re going to be covering it up anyway. This is why I ended up using a Sharpie pen to clean up my raw edges since they would be visible.

But, I wanted to show what the wallets would look like with rhinestones on them, so I laid them out and took a picture.

So, what do you think: rhinestones, or no rhinestones?

This is a pretty straightforward and simple project that can be accomplished in an afternoon, so if you have any fun plans this weekend, you could easily whip up one of these wallets for yourself! I can’t wait to start using these wallets, and I think they’ll make a great conversation piece.

If you end up trying your hand at this DIY, or have made your own geeky wallet already, we’d love to see it. Feel free to share it with us on our Facebook Page, or you can always contact us through our blog.