Published 2 October 2016 ● Last Updated on 1 October 2020
Today’s guest post comes from Aashyita Nanda, an HR specialist who found herself at the receiving end of a mountain of merchandise after a day spring cleaning at the office! Here’s her snazzy solution:
While at work the other day, I was asked by a Manager to assist in going through a pile of things my department had been accumulating for a few years now. This included broken banners, outdated flyers, and old swag (things we give out to students or potential employees at career fairs, conferences etc). While a few things were still re-usable and in good shape (water bottles, coffee mugs, pens), there were others which could not be salvaged (shiny, inflatable plastic bottles and expired mints). There was still a third category- things in good condition but with different logos all over them.
Being part of a family with a doctor, I have grown up using lots of goodies (some pretty cool stuff, I then thought!) that pharmaceutical companies used to give my dad, albeit with their name demanding prime-placement attention. Thus I am pretty used to things with pharma/drug names crawling all over, other people- not so much.
So when we discovered a pile of sling bags with pharma company names crammed upfront (my company owns the largest chain of pharmacies in Canada, besides other things), most of the people assisting in the cleanliness drive suggested we just throw them away. I couldn’t agree. Courtesy Secondsguru, I have seen people transform junk/old things into beautiful pieces of art and have done a few DIY projects myself, and I thought this was a great opportunity to save a lot of people a lot of hassle in disposing off almost 50 big sling bags! I spoke with a colleague, who volunteers at an organization that works with underprivileged youth, to take the bags for their summer vacation camp. The students can work on the bags to do something creative and then take them home. So while she took 49 bags, the 50th found its way to my home.
My initial thoughts involved buttons, lace fabric, cloth etc. But after a lot of thinking, I decided to do something simple- paint over the logos and use the bag as-is.
I had acrylic paints at home, which can be used to paint over canvas. My only expenditure was buying a stencil.
Initially I painted the bag red but that didn’t work. I could see all the logos quite clearly, so I just painted over it with black which worked like a charm. Then I took the strap and drew a design with the stencil, using a pen (pencil didn’t work well on it). The material and texture was a little different so painting it took much longer. Straight lines were not possible due to the texture and it did not absorb the color due the material. I just made sure I did not use any water to dilute the paint and went about it, one design at a time.
The bag flap was easier. After I had painted all over the logos, I just taped the stencil on it and used different colors on the designs. Make sure you let it dry before pulling off the stencil as color does seep underneath and you don’t want to smear anything.
When the paint dried, and I took off the stencil, it looked pretty much like this picture- just a little untidy due to paint seeping under the stencil. I just took a very thin brush and made it neater.
And tada- I was done!
The bag is big enough for me to carry my laptop, charger and all. Guess who will be using this at work?!
– Aashyita Nanda
Aashyita is a talent acquisition specialist based in Toronto who loves reading mysteries in her spare time. She is a foodie, can cook if given directions and is a fabulous sous-chef!
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