Turquoise tool boxby =Vivienne-Mercier

Artisan Crafts / Other

This is a wooden box that used to hold pastel sticks. It measure about 11" X 6" X 2". My friend gave it to me to make all pretty so she can store her polymer clay sculpting tools in it.

The top is covered in some leftover turquoise swirly-print fabric--you might recognize it from one of my recycled tuna cans! I then epoxied a blue donut-shaped stone that came from a necklace I wasn't wearing, and some royal blue fake rhinestones. The gold sparkly squiggly bits are from a decorative stick-on border that I had bought in the scrapbooking section of Joanne Fabrics. There's also gold and blue fabric paint designs.

I sewed metallic gold beads and glass turquoise-colored beads to some fancy iridescent ribbon and glued that around the rim, and put the rest of the gold border on the bottom rim. (It doesn't show up too well in the pics, though.)

The inside is covered in decorative paper, to which I applied several layers of Mod Podge and Polycrylic to make it durable. I've had that paper for years and had forgotten about it until I went looking for something interesting to put on the inside!

The closure consists of a large bead and a loop of dark blue cord, only because I couldn't think what else to use.

The whole box is liberally coated in Polycrylic sealer, as I wanted it to be durable. The Polycrylic was too shiny, though, so I also used matte Mod Podge.

I love the way this box looks. I love taking old stuff and putting it together to make something new and fun. It's the best thing to do EVAR!