May Thrifty Style Team Wood Box

May flowers have arrived and along with those blossoms the Thrifty Style Team bloggers are blooming too!

You just never know what the other ladies will be thrifting, or how they will redesign an item they already have, so make sure and check out the links at the bottom that point you in their direction.

Some months I might thrift something for my own house, and other months I might  re-thrift something that was thrifted to me, which means I re-thrift a thrifted item back to the thrift-or, essentially going from being a thrift-ee of a thrifty item to myself being a thrift-or.   Clear as mud?

Because I paint old junk, I have friends who always give me their old junk.

Sometimes that old junk is old treasures, and sometimes not so much.  Usually it's just something the person no longer wants and then I feel obligated to do something with whatever the gifted item is, but just like them I usually have no use for it either.

So occasionally I will paint said item and give it back, turning it into an item they didn't know they needed.  They feel obligated to keep it because now I have invested time in it.

This practice slows down the influx of junk to me from people who give me stuff they truly don't want back, and I don't have to be responsible for trashing stuff that belonged to their parents that they didn't want to begin with.

And occasionally friends give me stuff they secretly hope I will update and give back to them but they don't want to come right out and ask me if I will paint it for them.

Which leads me to this ugly scratched up little cedar box.

The giver informed me it had been their mothers and they don't want it.  Obviously they were very attached to it right?  Well attached enough they didn't feel right throwing it away, so they "passed it on" to me.

Here's a closer view of the vintage-ness of it.

It came and sat on my desk taking up valuable desk-top property as I asked myself the question of how to thrift it. The answer was paint it.

In it's day the flowers on the box were probably very pretty.  In this day on my desk, they were not.

The box had plenty of scratches, gouges, and not to mention it was that glossy kind of cedar on the outside that reminded me of every trinket bought in the 1960's at vacation gift shops.

I use Fusion Mineral paint for my projects, big or small, furniture or crafting.  Why?  Because I love it and it works on everything I have ever used it for and it works with minimal fuss.

So I coated the box with the color Champlain and reflected on my friend and how she might use it when it came back to live at her house, because I sure wasn't keeping it!

Her menfolk have a quest to sample as many craft beers in their lifetimes as possible, saving the caps of the ones they like and tossing them in a bag.

Bye bye cap bag.  The box is going back as beer cap storage.

I used the Citrasolve method to transfer a vintage design to the top of the box.  *There will be a link to a full tutorial on using the method at the end. 

I chose this particular design because I was born in Seattle.  I don't remember Rainier Beer, I was just a tot, and my mom's beer of choice either came from the land of sky blue waters or the neighboring town of Olympia. 

The amount of Citrasolv used was a mere capful. This technique is literally brushing on the solvent to transfer the image, just not too wet, and using the back of a spoon to burnish the design in place.

Sometimes I'm very careful with this method, like on the cloth napkins I made for the tutorial, but for this box I wanted it to look old and rustic to match all the scratches on the top, so it looked like it had actually been around for as long as it has, so after the transfer I lightly sanded it, removing parts of the graphic.

After painting, I like the smooth to the touch feel of using wax, so I applied black wax from Fusion to finish it off.  The black wax went into all the scratches and lines keeping the authentic aged look.

And now the updated box is going back to where it came from.

So the lesson is; don't give me your old junk unless you are prepared to have it gifted back to you which will put you in the same predicament as me....you won't really be able to throw it out even if you don't really like it or need it.

May Thrifty Style Team is blooming with projects, 

just click the links below to check them out. 

Thrifty Yellow and Pink Spring Porch by Redhead Can Decorate

Rustic Shiplap-Inspired Wall Art by The Creek Line House

Ideas on How to Update a 15 Year Old Bathroom Vanity by Duke Manor Farm

Make an Auricula Theatre - Thrifty Style by Heart and Vine

Window Seat Refresh by DIY Beautify

Green Painted Outdoor Table by Cottage at the Crossroads

Patio Decorating Ideas on a Budget by I Should Be Mopping the Floor

Vintage Box Makeover by Bliss Ranch

Easy DIY Nightstand From a Thrift Store Stool by Chatfield Court

Decorating with Thrifted Silver by 2 Bees in a Pod

DIY Grain Sack Striped Farmhouse Tote by The How-To How

Thrifted Picnic Basket Makeover by Salvage Sister & Mister

DIY Magazine Page Place Mats by What Meegan Makes

100 Year Old Barnwood Shelves by The DIY Village

Quick links:

Bliss Ranch Citrasolv napkin tutorial

Fusion Mineral Paint

Fusion Wax

 

Visit other Bliss Ranch Thrifty Style Team projects ....

Two Sided Rail Way Sign

 Easy Spray Etched Metal Door Makeover

First Aid Cabinet
Giant Mixer Beater
Maple Syrup Tote

The Barber Shop

Updated Lamps 

Blue to Orange Stool Makeover 

Vintage Wood Tool Turned Shelf 

Trash To Treasure Sliding Wood Barn Doors 

Glass Light Globes 

Wood Bow Ties

Thrifting Places & People 

Updated Door Mat 

Vintage Table Top Lap Desk 

End Table Bottom Shelf Updates 

Route 66 Beer Tote