Okay, so today I’m gonna walk you through this little project I did. Saw a cool pic online – “single woman smiling with brand new bag” – and thought, “Hey, I can recreate that!” Not the single woman part, thankfully, but definitely the new bag and the smile.
First thing’s first, the bag. I didn’t actually buy a brand new bag. I’m all about that sustainable life, so I dug around in my closet. Found this old tote bag I got from a conference years ago. It was kinda crumpled and boring, so I decided to jazz it up.
Next step: design. I wanted something simple but eye-catching. I rummaged through my art supplies and found some fabric markers. Then I just started sketching directly onto the bag. Didn’t overthink it, just went with the flow. Ended up with some abstract floral kinda thing. Pretty happy with it!
Now, for the smiling part. That was the tricky bit. Fake smiles always look…fake. So I tried to think of something that genuinely made me happy. Ended up watching some funny cat videos on YouTube. Worked like a charm!
Got all my gear ready, found a good spot with decent lighting, and started snapping pics with my phone. Took a bunch, trying different angles and poses. Most of them were terrible, let me tell ya. But eventually, I got a few that I liked.
Then I went into my pics, did some basic edits (brightness, contrast, the usual), and boom! “Single woman smiling with brand new bag” – my version. It was surprisingly fun. And now I have a cool new bag to boot!

Here’s the breakdown of what I did:
- Found an old tote bag.
- Designed a pattern with fabric markers.
- Watched cat videos to get a genuine smile.
- Took a bunch of photos.
- Edited the best ones.
Definitely gonna try this again with different themes. Maybe “Man staring intensely at coffee” next time? We’ll see!