There is a rare, undeniable magic in giving something with a past a beautiful new destination. When you take an object that has traveled the world, seen decades of history, and maybe gathered a little bit of dust in a forgotten attic, and you breathe your own unique, vibrant life into it…that is where the real creative spark happens.

If you are new around here, welcome to the colorful, eccentric, and unapologetically maximalist world of The Festive Queen. I am a firm believer that life is entirely too short for boring accessories, blank walls, and weekends spent doing nothing but laundry and running errands. That exact philosophy is the beating heart behind my monthly community event series: Festive Fun.

Every single month, we gather to step out of the mundane, break away from the endless to-do lists, and dive headfirst into a brand-new creative project. For May, we took over Granny Camp in Huntsville, Texas, for an event that might just go down in history as one of my absolute favorites: The Vintage Trunk Show.

Grab a coffee (or a cocktail, I won’t judge), get comfortable, and let’s dive into a massive recap of what went down, how we turned stacks of forgotten luggage into custom masterpieces, and what is on the horizon for our incredible community of women.

The Mission Behind Festive Fun: Reclaiming Your Creative Time

Before we get into the Mod Podge and the leopard print fabrics, I want to talk about why these events exist. As women, we are constantly pouring from our own cups to fill everyone else’s. We are managing careers, raising kids, running households, and somehow trying to remember to drink enough water.

It is so easy to let weeks, months, and even years slip by without ever doing something purely for the joy of it. The mission of Festive Fun is simple but profound: to get women out of their everyday routines, encourage them to do something entirely for themselves, and provide a safe, high-energy space to try something new.

You do not need to consider yourself an “artist” to sit at one of our tables. You just need to show up, be willing to get a little paint on your hands, and let your imagination run wild. Every month we tackle a different project…from the beautiful floral arrangements of our April Petals and Patina event to the heavy-duty crafting of this month. It is about connection, community, and carrying a little piece of that joy back home with you.

Welcome to Granny Camp: The Ultimate Creative Playground

For the May Trunk Show, we hosted the event at Granny Camp in Huntsville, Texas. If you have never been, picture the most welcoming, eclectic, and creatively inspiring space imaginable. As the ladies walked in, they were greeted by the ultimate vintage sight: a literal mountain of vintage suitcases and train cases stacked high against a wall of colorful yarn.

I’m talking classic hard-shell Samsonite train cases in every color of the rainbow…powder blues, olive greens, burnt oranges, cherry reds, and deep navy blues. The room was set up with massive, rustic wooden tables, each lined with coffee mugs full of paintbrushes, water cups, and pallets waiting to be filled with color.

We had an entire station dedicated strictly to supplies. And when I say unlimited supplies, I mean unlimited. We had gallons….yes, gallons….of Mod Podge ready to go. Baskets overflowed with vintage lace, gingham ribbon, floral fabrics, bandanas, and delicate paper napkins for decoupage. There was an entire shelf dedicated to chalk paints in every pastel and neon shade you could dream of, alongside mountains of beads, rhinestones, charms, and trims.

The Swag: Personalized Details and Vintage Sparks

You know I cannot host an event without going completely over the top with the party favors. I am a sucker for a good goodie bag, and for this event, I wanted the takeaways to be just as personalized as the main project.

When each attendee arrived, they found two custom-made bag tags waiting for them. One was designed to hang directly on them as a wearable name tag, and the other was tucked away in their goodie bag to be attached to their newly flipped trunk.

If you know my aesthetic, you know we lean heavily into the modern maximalist, Y2K-nostalgia vibe. These tags were a labor of love, crafted with distressed denim strips, hot pink ric-rac, delicate white lace, and, of course, a healthy dose of leopard print ribbon. I strung together custom beaded chains for every single woman, spelling out their names mixed with funky charms…miniature dice, eight balls, smiley faces, pearls, and tiny strawberries. Pinning these onto vintage luggage tags gave them that perfect eclectic, curated junk-journal feel.

Inside their goodie bags, alongside their extra tag, were the signature DIY matchbooks I make for every event. It’s a tiny, functional piece of art to remind them of the sparks they revived that day.

The Main Event: Flipping Vintage Trunks

Once everyone was settled, armed with an endless supply of snacks and unlimited drinks to keep the energy high, it was time to pick their trunks. Some gravitated toward the sleek, small makeup cases, while others went for the heavy-duty, brass-latched overnight cases.

Then, the real work began. The goal was to take these tired, sometimes scuffed-up cases and turn them into personalized storage boxes, travel kits, or display pieces.

Step 1: The Base Coat Many of the women started by painting the exteriors. We used durable home decor chalk paints to give the textured exteriors a fresh, vibrant lease on life. Soft baby blues, vibrant bubblegum pinks, and deep emerald greens started taking over the room.

Step 2: The Interior Transformation This is where the magic truly happened. The insides of vintage suitcases are often… less than desirable. But with a heavy hand of Mod Podge and some incredible textiles, they were completely transformed.

One of my absolute favorite transformations of the day was a textured pink train case. The exterior was kept its beautiful original rosy hue, but the inside? Total eccentric maximalist perfection. We lined the interior with a fierce leopard print fabric, trimmed the edges with silver rhinestones, and even added a custom denim pocket cut from a pair of vintage Wrangler jeans right onto the inner lid. It was finished off with a few vintage patches and an old vinyl record tucked inside. It was edgy, nostalgic, and entirely unique.

Another attendee took a pale blue case and went in a completely different, soft-vintage direction. She lined the inside with delicate, cream-colored floral fabric, added pearl trim along the edges, and decoupaged a beautiful bird and botanical design onto the lid.

Step 3: Embellishments and Details The embellishment table was arguably the most popular spot in the room. Women were digging through baskets of lace and using hot glue to attach embroidered appliqués to the sides of their cases.

The atmosphere in that room was electric. The sound of women laughing, sharing supplies, asking for design opinions, and bonding over the shared experience of creating was exactly why I started Festive Fun. We ate, we drank, we crafted until our hands were covered in paint, and every single person left with a piece of “baggage” they were actually excited to carry.

Step 4: The Reveal (Prepare to Be Amazed!)

When the Mod Podge finally dried and the last rhinestone was glued into place, it was time for the absolute best part of the entire afternoon: the reveal. We lined up all the finished trunks on the tables, and y’all, I was completely blown away.

As everyone stepped back to admire the lineup, the energy in the room shifted into pure, unadulterated pride. So many women looked at their customized cases and said some version of, “I honestly had no idea I was this crafty!” That is exactly the magic of these events. You do not need to be a professional artist or have a perfectly curated aesthetic; you just need to give yourself the time and permission to play.

But beyond the beautiful, maximalist luggage sitting on those tables, something even better happened. Women who had walked into Granny Camp as complete strangers were swapping phone numbers, taking pictures of each other with their masterpieces, and making plans to come back together for Summerween. Real connections were made over shared bottles of paint and digging through bins of vintage lace.

Seeing the genuine pride on everyone’s faces as they showed off their finished pieces is a feeling I will never get over. They took something forgotten and made it completely, unapologetically their own.

Take a look below at all the incredible finished trunks. Prepare to be seriously inspired by what these ladies created!

Up Next: Getting Spooky in Summer with “Summerween”

If you missed the May Trunk Show, do not panic! We do this every single month, and our June event is going to be wildly different, but just as fabulous.

Mark your calendars, because for June, we are celebrating Summerween!

What is Summerween, you ask? It is the glorious, kitschy, pop-culture phenomenon of celebrating Halloween right in the middle of the scorching summer. Think bright neon colors mixed with spooky motifs, flamingos wearing witch hats, and pastel ghosts melting in the Texas heat.

For our June Festive Fun event, we will be creating heavily embellished, over-the-top kitschy Halloween wreaths. We will be using vintage tinsel, retro plastic masks, neon ribbons, and all the spooky-cute charms you can handle. If you love the thrill of the hunt at the bins and have a soft spot for 90s nostalgia, this is the event for you.

We will be bringing the same energy: unlimited supplies, a massive spread of food and drinks, and an afternoon completely dedicated to you and your creativity.

Grab Your Summerween Tickets Before They Sell Out!

The May Bucket List: Living Your Best Maximalist Life

Since we are still in the beautiful swing of May, I wanted to share my personal May Bucket List. Let’s make the most of this month before the true, unbearable summer heat sets in!

Plan a “Thrifting Thursday” at the Bins: Get your gloves, grab a massive iced coffee, and hit the Goodwill Outlets. Look for unique textiles, vintage denim for upcycling, and old frames. (Need tips? Check out my ultimate guide to thrifting here: [Beginners Guide Guide to Thrifting the Bins]. I think I’m going to talk Christ into going weekly!
Upcycle One Small Item: You don’t need a whole vintage trunk to get started. Take a plain picture frame, an old jewelry box, or even a basic denim jacket, and add some leopard print fabric or beaded fringe.
Make a “Junk Journal” Bookmark: Use scraps of ribbon, old tickets, and leftover beads to create a heavily layered, messy-but-beautiful bookmark. It’s the perfect, low-stakes craft for a Sunday afternoon.
Read Outside: Which brings me to my next very important point….

Join the Club: Festively Booked

If you have been following me for a while, you know I am a voracious reader and a proud writer of contemporary romance. (Speaking of, my Christmas romance manuscript is currently in the submission trenches.. so please send all the positive thoughts and vibes my way please.)

Because I can never get enough of talking about books, I run a virtual romance book club called Festively Booked. We meet virtually on the last Thursday of every single month, which means you can join us from your couch in your pajamas with a glass of wine.

We read everything from second-chance romances to forced-proximity swoon-fests, with a heavy emphasis on found family tropes. For our May meeting, we are doing something a little different: we are selecting books specifically based on their floral-themed covers to match the spring energy!

If you love love, enjoy witty banter, and want a low-pressure community of women to swoon over fictional men with, you belong in our group.

[Join the Festively Booked Facebook Group!]

Final Thoughts

Looking back at the photos from our May Festive Fun event at Granny Camp fills my heart to the absolute brim. Seeing a room full of women stepping away from their daily grind, laughing with new friends, and pouring their energy into something beautiful is the greatest reward.

We brought those vintage trunks back to life, but more importantly, I think a lot of women brought a little piece of their own creative spirit back to life, too.

Remember, you deserve to take up space. You deserve to make a mess. You deserve to spend an afternoon gluing rhinestones onto leopard print fabric just because it makes you smile.

I cannot wait to see you all at Summerween in June! Until then, keep sparking, besties.

Stay bold, stay colorful, and stay festive.

xoxo

xoxo,

Ashton Sedita (The Festive Queen)

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