REPURPOSE | RECYCLE | CREATIVITY | MINIMALISM | PAINT PENS

Reinvigorating An Old Wallet With Paint Pens

It is possible to breathe new life into old things

Jillian Amatt - Artistic Voyages
Share Your Creativity
8 min readOct 13, 2024

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A wallet full of bright and colorful doodles from paint pens.
Paint pens are used to color on top of my old and worn out wallet. Photo Credit: Jillian Amatt - Artistic Voyages

My partner Chris bought me a wallet for my 38th birthday back in 2014. This year, I am turning 48, which means that I have had this wallet for ten years now.

I fell in love with it immediately as we wandered through one of my favorite shops on Granville Island in Vancouver, Canada, on my birthday. I didn’t necessarily need a new wallet then, but I’m a turquoise fanatic, and this wallet had all the colors that made my heart sing. When I showed it to him and professed my love for it, he bought it without a second thought. I think it cost about $70.

It is a genuine leather wallet, which makes it sturdy, and it has stood the test of time. The inside fabric is free of rips, the zippers work, the stitching is still good, and the wallet functions perfectly. But there was one problem: It was starting to look a little worse for wear.

The wallet before I doodled on it looks drab and worn.
The wallet before I painted on it. Photo Credit: Jillian Amatt - Artistic Voyages

Whatever coating was put on top of the leather was slowly starting to wear off, and I was becoming…

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Jillian Amatt - Artistic Voyages
Share Your Creativity

I seek new experiences and share my life as an artist, traveler, foodie, gardener, and serious steward of our beloved planet. Life is short, let's get busy!