Altered Art - Getting Organised :O))

Hello,

I had one of those days last week, you know, when you can't find a single thing you reallllly need? I had all these packets of Tim Holtz Idea-ology stash and a whole drawer was completely taken up with all the packaging....don't get me wrong, I love the packaging but it was really taking up too much room. So, I decided to alter a wooden box that I had bought nearly a year ago LOL I knew I would get around to it sooner or later!




The box was plain wood to start off with and relatively new looking. I wanted to make it look a bit old and battered and well loved.



I started by bashing the box with a texture hammer and then sanding parts of it. I then used a couple of coats of Gesso to prime the wood.




Once the Gesso was dry, I painted the whole of the box with Adirondack Gold Acrylic Paint. This was fairly easy for the outside but fiddly for the inside of the lid - thankfully, the paint wiped off the little window so I didn't get too messy :O))




Once the gold coat had dried, I used some PVA glue and painted the whole box. I immediately covered this with a coat of homemade creamy colour - I made the colour by mixing white paint with a titchy dash of Butterscotch paint.




Once the PVA started to dry, it split and took the cream paint with it, giving me the lovely aged effect and showing the golden layer beneath.




The inside of the box was painted using the same creamy colour, only this time, I watered it down slightly for ease of covering and because I didn't want to make the layer of paint too thick so the lift out part would still fit in the box.




Because the paint had kind of covered over the bashed with a hammer bits, I decided to bash again with said hammer - memo to self, remember to hit the wood, not the thumbnails! Ouch!
Finally, to add that bit of a mucky and well handled look, I used a piece of Cut n Dry foam and blended Walnut Stain Distress Ink onto the edges of the box.




I was going to use some stamping on the box but I decided against it in the end, I like the way it looks as it is and I can always add stamping later on if I get bored with the plain look. All that was left for me to do was to fill it up with all those Idea-ology goodies and a few extra bits n bobs I had laying around.




I am well chuffed with my new storage organiser and the packaging has been recycled, the drawer that it vacated has been filled up with other stuff (LOL) and my Room of Stash is a little tidier now....well, for the time being anyways!

Thanks for looking - oh and I almost forgot to say - my lack of photography skills have struck again, these pics ain't the best as they look dull, the box actually has a bit of glamour about it with the golden shimmer showing through the top layer.

Hels x