Monday, March 14, 2011

Tin boxes

Sometimes I buy stuff only for the packaging. Like this box of Griotte chocolates. For some reason, both my mom and aunt kept their sewing kit in an old box of chocolates. So when I saw this one I immediately thought: This would be perfect for my spooled thread. 



Of course, it turned out I have more thread than fits the box. Guess I need to eat more chocolate. 
I didn't decorate this box, because it's pretty enough on its own, but I did decorate this other one. 



Bought it at the dollar store, it came with a set of Yu-Gi-Oh trading cards. Clearly an item I very much need in my life ;) 

I decoupaged it with a paper napkin, but it came out all wrinkly (it's been a while since I last decoupaged anything) - so to hide that I smudged white acrylic paint all over it. Not sure how much that helped, but I like it better now than when it pictured the guy fighting the undead skull daemon or whatnot. 



And then I discovered mare's blog. With great tutorials on decoupage and an information that was brand new to me: You can iron the napkins on the boxes to eliminate the wrinkles!!! 
What a great result! So much better than my technique of using my finger to smooth out the wrinkly parts, then spending half an hour peeling decoupage glue off my fingers. 

This box is a small wooden one, for a friend's birthday. I decorated it with a napkin then applied crackle medium, waited (the waiting is the hardest part) and finally rubbed brown oil paint in the cracks. 



The cracks and the aging probably don't go so well with this particular napkin, since it's a pretty modern design, but what can I tell you? I really, really wanted to try the technique. 

10 comments:

  1. If you ever feel like buying another Griotte box just for the packaging, I'll be happy to take the contents of it off your hands ;)

    I think all mothers keep their sewing stuff in tin cookie boxes :)

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  2. Obožavam ih!!! Mislim, kutije! Ja sam uspela da se izborim za jednu prelepu kutiju od danskih keksa na nekoj proslavi na poslu (praznu, naravno :( ), ali rado ću pomoći Fridici da te rešimo bede s čokoladicama :)))

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  3. vidim da se svi nude pomoći ti da isprazniš kutije:)....pa ako ostane komadić-dva sjeti se i mene:D....
    hval ti na posjeti ,uvijek je lijepo dobiti povratnu informaciju pa tako i mene veseli da ti je tut o peglanju salveta bio od koristi:))...
    pusa:))...
    M...

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  4. Ranije su svi držali konce i igle u tim kutijama, ja se sećam da je to radila i moja baba...
    A naravno i ja kupujem štošta samo zbog pakovanja:)!

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  5. Izgleda da smo sve odrasle uz metalne kutije pune konaca. Moja mama je imala jednu ovalnog oblika i u njoj su nekada nekakvi bomboni bili, a u drugoj u kojoj se kupio čaj kasnije su stajale hrpe fotografija koje sam ja uredno htjela prebaciti u albume, Sada kada mame više nema, nekako nemam srca premjestiti te fotografije niti isprazniti njenu kutiju s koncima ...

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  6. Jao divne su! Ja se jos uvek secam onih nasih okruglih os cajnih keksica posutih krupnim secerom, kao i onih u kojima je bila smesyena kafa. Nazalost nisam primetila tako velike kod nas, a da im cene budu bar iole pristupacne.

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  7. I ja ima metalne kutijice ali moje nisu ukrasenji. vec dugo vreme teram sebe da to uradim ali zelim prvo kupiti onaj beli sprej zato sto mi se ne svidja da bojim sa cetkom.
    A ja slinim oko ovu kutiju za Griotte kad je vidim u prodavnice. Neko drugi bi slinio za cokolade unutra ali ja za kutiju :)

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  8. Evo i ja da se javim sa secanjem na konce u limenoj kutiji :)
    Kad bolje razmislim, tada i nije bilo drugih kvalitetnih kutija...
    A danas, cak se prodaju prazne limene kutije ... a obozavam ih, sto su tako sjajne, cvrste i imaju specijalan zvuk :)
    Jednu sam bojala lakom ... zastitim ivice koje ne zelim da se ofarbaju, uzmem sprej, i .... nije lose, ali nikad kao kupovna.

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  9. Yet another addiction!

    BTW, moj konac za vez je u prekrasnoj srebrnoj limenoj kutiji koju sam dobila za jedan Božić (mislim da su unutra bili neki gelovi za tuširanje)!

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  10. Wow, I love how you decorated the tin box. I also buy the cookie/ chocolate boxes for various storing reasons, but have never tried customizing it afterwards. Really clever.

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