April 8th tutorial ~ Altered box

Hi, everyone! I thought that I would have some fun this week altering a wooden box that I bought at the local craft store. Since I am expecting to be doing some beyond the page projects soon, I thought I'd get a little practice in "altering" before I start those!  Okay, let's have some fun, shall we?!

This is what my box looked like to start. It was just the bare, unfinished wood that needed just a bit of sanding before I did anything.  I plan to use this for storing photos that need to be scrapped soon.

Next I removed as much of the hardware as I could.  The corner pieces were nailed on and gave me some resistence as I tried removing them. In order to refrain from bending those, I just left them in place.  My hardware pieces were smallish, so I used some jewelers screwdrivers to get the job done quickly.

Okay, so this was the fun but messy part! I LOVE making a mess when I work! Paint, ink, glue .. lets me know that I'm working on something good.  LOL! Anyhoo .. I took my box out to the hubby's garage and used some wood stain that he had on hand (MinWax Wood Finish) .. the color is Provincial 211.  Because I wanted my box to be fairly dark, I used 2 coats.

While the box was drying (which it does fairly quickly), I went back to my craft room and choose some paper and embellishments to use.  The sky is the limit here but my paper is from Basic Grey's Curio collection, the flowers and bling are Prima. I used all the same flowers because this project doubled as a design team project for Generations Crafting.  So I cut my paper to fit the box, rounded the corners a bit, then used some Colorbox Chestnut Roan ink on the edges. 

I used some glossy Modge Podge to adhere the paper to the top of the box.  Although my photo shows the "right" side of the paper, the glue went on the underneath side of it. 

Then I let that sit a bit to dry.

Next I used more of the glossy Modge Podge to coat the top of the box .. to add some sheen. I'm sure you're laughing at my well-used and well-loved brush but it is a fave of mine that I just can't toss.

This photo shows how the Modge Podge still has a creay white look to it before it actually dries to a nice gloss.

Time to decorate! Since I already had the glue out, I used it to adhere the crochet doily from my stash. I have bought a ton of these from JoAnn's Fabrics because they add such nice texture to a project.  Not all craft stores have these, so I thought I would add where I purchased them.  I ran all over town looking!

Next I experimented with some skeleton leaves from my stash .. I believe these are Recollections brand. I decided the beige one looked the best, so chose that one.

Before adding my flowers (Prima Floret, Camille) I used some Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Iridescent Gold and Sunkissed Peach.  That gave the roses a nice glimmer .. but I wanted more, so I coated them with glossy accents and then dipped them in Diamond Dust.

Here is a close-up of the flower being dipped in the Diamond Dust .. do be careful though, especially with children around, because DD is made from finely ground glass.  I also have this in Gold and Silver for use at the holidays.

Here's my flower afterward! Sorry the focus is not better.

Before adding the flowers and other embllies, I added my Prima Say it in Pearls, brown, in 2 corners. Then everthing else was adhered with Aleene's  Tacky Glue.  Just let your imagination be your guide in adding on whatever looks good to you.

Here is a view of the box once the hardware was added back on.  I am thrilled with it! I have ordered some Tim Holtz metal feet to add to bottom of the box and let it stand up a bit from my desk .. think that will really look awesome!

I hope I have inspired you to do a little something "off the page" and I can't wait to see what ideas are spinning around in your head!