Pandora's hatbox in leather

The first stage in the decoration of Pandora's Hatbox is to cover it in the faux crocodile skin fabric I bought at the craft store. One tip to note when planning to use this type of vinyl fabric is that it can easily be marked by scratches in the store, and it will also develop creases if you fold it. I stored my fabric by hanging it from the clips of a skirt hanger until I was ready to use it, but you could also wrap it around a cardboard mailing tube.
After you've carefully measured the box you want to cover, you can mark the pieces on the back (fabric) side of the vinyl and cut them out. I used a spray-on craft glue to adhere the larger pieces to the hatbox (the top of the lid and around the barrel).
Before I added the strip around the edge of the lid, I used a craft knife to cut four slits evenly around the edge (you can see one in the picture); this was because the lid was a pretty tight fit even before I added the vinyl covering to the barrel and I needed to make room. The slits will be hidden by the vinyl strip. I also worked around the edge of the lid with a pair of fabric shears to trim off excess vinyl, although I didn't worry too much about getting an exact fit, as the edges will be covered by the trim eventually.
For the edge strip, I used a liquid craft glue which I spread over the back of the strip. I did this for two reasons: to ensure a stronger bond on a part of the box that will get a lot of wear and tear, and because it would have been a pain in the neck to protect the vinyl that was already applied to the lid while I was spraying adhesive.
At the same time, I covered the small cardboard suitcase with the same vinyl fabric. This was a little trickier than the hatbox because of the handle and catch, which couldn't be removed. The excess bits of vinyl in the picture are just there to protect the finish from being marked by the bulldog clips that are holding the vinyl in place while the glue dries. I won't go into details here, but if you want tips on how I cut the vinyl to fit around the fixtures, join my email list (use the box in the sidebar) and I'll let you know when the full pattern and instructions will be available.