I'm kind of a horror freak. I also hate most purses unless they have Hello Kitty or fringe on them. so I started painting them. I'm telling you, this is much much easier then you would think. All you need is a steady hand, paint (obviously), some brushes of all different sizes to suit your needs (I often only use 4 because that's just how I roll and I'm too lazy to sort through 10 different sized brushes), and some purses!

More often then not I'll change the color of the purse so the original color doesn't normally matter. The texture and the shape are what makes me need them or not. My only requirement is that they have to be plastic or a stiff leather, I can't have a purse that's flopping all over the place and creasing when my paint is still wet. Or creasing when it's dry because that would cause it to chip off before I can clear coat the shit out of it. I use a regular matte multi purpose craft paint, it's just what I have acquired the most of in my life and I enjoy using it. I suppose you could use any type of paint you'd like. Unless you're painting on a fabric purse, then Use A Fabric Paint! It won't work to clear coat a fabric purse like it does with a stiffer plastic or leather one and all your paint will chip off the second you start to move it around. You will set yourself up for a failure. I like to draw my design out with a white pencil first, just as a guide line. Be careful with that though, sometimes the white will shine through when you're all done and you'll have to go over it 50 more times. I speak from experience. Then I paint it up. Simple, yeah?
You don't have to paint zombies or spiders on your purse, you could use a stencil and paint some flowers, or ants, or pumpkins...Whatever suits your mood at the time! You can find alot of really great purses at your local thrift store just waiting to be given a second life! Many of them are under $5.
When I'm totally done with them, I put like 5 or 6 (or 10) coats of a glossy clear coat spray paint. I like to use the indoor/outdoor gloss, crystal clear, Rustoleum spray paint. It's super easy to use and the smell diminishes after a couple days.
*On a side note, Rustoleum now makes a clear coat for fabric things such as chairs and crap, I haven't tried this yet but I just wanted to let ya'll know about it*
I like to clear coat on a sunny day, set the purses out in the sun for 10 minutes to warm up before spraying. I know it says on the can not to let it dry in the sun, but I've found that keeps the purse from getting too stiff, I let them dry in the sun for about a half hour and then bring them inside the garage. I stick a folded up dryer sheet in all of my finished purses and set them in the garage for about a week. This pretty much takes care of the spray paint smell, I mean of course if you hold it up to your face and take a deep breath like some weirdo creeper you'll get a small whiff of spray paint, but who does that? No one is going to be able to smell it if you carry it out. I've actually gone out with my zombie one the day that I clear coated it and no one could smell spray paint, I normally give them a week just to be sure though. I spray everything except the zipper, if your purse is shaped in a way that you will inevitably spray the zipper, cover it with a piece of tape. It will stick and be exceptionally hard to open if you clear coat it.
The end result should look all shiney and beautiful, the outside will be waterproof, and the paint underneath should be uv protected as well from fading. (hence the reason I use indoor/outdoor clear coating)

I hope this inspires you to customize your own purse/wallet/shoes/jackets/luggage! Good luck!

Enjoy!