the rose box.

Published on by Quandie

Every time I paint a box lately I don’t bother with a before photo because I think ‘no one wants to see another painted box on my blog,’ so I don’t plan to blog about it.  Instead, my usual plan is to give it a quick makeover and then take it to Reclaiming Beautiful to sell.

And then it turns out like this …

and I realize that I really do want to share it with you guys.

Even if the bulk of you aren’t all that interested and really only want to see furniture.

But you know what?  This technique would translate well to furniture, so maybe this post does have some value for those of you who are furniture refinishers.  And in fact, it inspired me to do something entirely different than originally planned on a little washstand I’ve been working on.  I’ll be sharing that later in the week, so you’ll see what I mean.

But in the meantime, I’ll share what I did with this box.  It started out as just a plain wooden recipe box.  I painted it with Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth first and once two coats of paint were dry, I sanded the edges to distress.

Next I pulled out a bunch of transfer scraps to see what I could cobble together for this small box.  I started out with the wording, and that came from the Paris Valley transfer from re.design with prima.  Once I had the wording transfers on, I decided to add some florals so I pulled out the Redoute 4 transfer from IOD.

I have to say, I fully appreciate the irony here.  I gave up being a re.design with prima brand ambassador because they were doing so many floral designs and not enough words.  And here I am using their words, and IOD’s florals.  Go figure.

But I have to say, this rose transfer from IOD is the perfect floral for me.  The colors are slightly faded, and I love that the transfer has a distressed look with scratches built in.

That distressed look might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it definitely is mine.

By the way, if you aren’t familiar with this transfer you might be surprised to find that it’s quite large (24″ x 33″) and the full transfer looks like this …

I just used the flowers from the upper right corner.  I suspect that when I’m done with this transfer I may have a few leafy stems left over that I never use, but we’ll see.

This transfer costs around $30, but I’ve found a local retailer now so at least I don’t have to pay shipping.  I can use it on multiple pieces so that helps distribute the cost, but buying the entire transfer for one little box would be cost prohibitive in my opinion.  If I use it on four little boxes, that’s just $7.50 per box though.

I wrapped the floral design around the sides of my box.

I had to separate some of the elements and re-arrange them to make this work, like the two rose buds shown above.

I love working on little projects like these.  They are quick and easy and they allow me to test out some ideas without committing to them on a big piece of furniture.  I can also use up some scraps left over from other projects.  As I mentioned earlier, this one provided a jumping off point for a piece of furniture I’ll be sharing later in the week, so be sure to stay tuned.

But in the meantime, tell me … floral, yes or no?

 

38 thoughts on “the rose box.”

  2. The way you marry the words and floral pieces together makes my heart sing. I love your “smalls”, they inspire without overwhelming me. A project I could start and actually finish lol
    Thank you, can’t wait to see more.
    Michelle

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  3. Love, love, love! Anyone would be happy to have this in their home…makes me happy just to look at it. Great use of your “scraps”. What ‘s that old saying? ” One man’s scraps are another man’s treasure”? Or something like that? You are the “Scrapmaster” for sure…❤

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  5. While I tend not to care for most floral transfers – to me they are flashy but not enduring -this one has a “look of old,” which in my mind means not perfectly detailed or produced looking. The distressing softens it and makes it lovable. So YES to this floral which looks perfect when combined with the French text!

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  6. I love to see and read about all the makeovers you do, be it furniture or boxes, suitcases or birdcages! Your work is inspirational and I’ve copied quite a few of your ideas for my own home. So please don’t stop sharing these smaller projects. I, for one, love seeing them.

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  7. Oh and for the record, I’m also not really a flowers girl but this box With its flowers and words is Just delightful ❤️

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  10. I love boxes! I love grungy old boxes, fresh new boxes, boxes with lids, topless boxes, I just love boxes. I’ll never tire of seeing what you’ve done with one. This one is spectacular! It makes me want to refinish this old recipe box of my husband’s that has water damage on it. It makes me want to give transfers a second try. But if I redid my husband’s recipe box with flowers, I do believe he’d kill me in my sleep. So I will live through your work and find a masculine way to refinish the one we have. I will just have to use your ideas on something else. Keep the boxes coming!

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  13. Well my dear you are not going to believe this but I,Betty from Ontario think this is absolutely fantastic.I love it.Have not been on for a while Due to surgery. Hope Mom and Sis are both well and keeping safe.

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  15. I just wanted to let you know that I love seeing all of your projects-big or small! You never know where you’ll get inspiration from! Kept ‘email coming!

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  19. I love how you use just bits and pieces, especially just hints of flowers and create beautiful pieces without blending, a technique that I am just unable to master.

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