the recipe box.

Published on by Quandie

Well, you guys spoke and I listened.  When I posted the little wooden recipe box that I thrifted recently, I asked you guys if I should paint it or not.

I have to confess, I was rather surprised that almost all of you said don’t paint it.

Well, OK then, I’m willing to give it a shot.

What isn’t super apparent in that ‘before’ photo is that the box was filthy dirty.  Like … totally gross really.  So the first step was to clean it well.  I used my spray Dawn dish soap for that.  I scrubbed it with one of those plastic scrubby pads and the soap, and rinsed it with warm water.  You should have seen the dirt that came off it!

Once clean, I let it air dry.  Here’s how it looked after that cleaning.

Definitely not an improvement, right?

But don’t be put off by this step, this box is still salvageable without totally refinishing it.

Next I sanded it lightly all over (except over that Recipes label) with 220 grit sandpaper.  I followed that up with some of Dixie Belle’s Big Mama’s Butta.

Ahhhh, so much better.  Isn’t it fantastic what that stuff does for old, dried out wood?

Several of you also suggested that I paint just the inside of the box, so I took that advice as well.  I painted it in Dixie Belle’s Gravel Road and then I added a little bit of the decoupage tissue paper from re.design with prima.

I love the way the dark grey works with the wood tone on the outside.

I just happened to have a set of index cards that fit the box perfectly.

I don’t suppose one typically uses alphabet index cards for recipes though, do they?  You’d probably more likely find cards that say ‘salads’, ‘appetizers’, and things like that in a recipe box.

Well, personally, if I was keeping this box I think I’d use it as a scrapbook instead of using it for recipes.  You may remember that I have done that before …

So I’m going to leave the alphabet index cards with the box and see if it inspires anyone to do something similar.

At this point, it just remains to be seen whether or not the box will sell.  I’m going to price it at $18 and see what happens.  I’ll keep you posted!

24 thoughts on “the recipe box.”

  2. Well it certainly turned out lovely.The inside is so pretty. I haven’t tried that DB Big Mama Butta yet. Looks like I will have to give it a try. 😊

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  3. It’s LOVELY! I have a box very similar to this in which my father kept ‘flash cards” from medical school (1960 era). I had planned to paint it like the gorgeous rose box you created some time back. I am so glad I had not gotten to it yet as I love this one even more.
    This is my first written comment, but I have been a huge fan of yours for a while, and every post elicits oohs and aahs ! Thank you for the many inspirations!

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    1. First, thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment Paula, I really appreciate it! And second, how cool is your box of flash cards. What a great keepsake 🙂

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  7. My mom used a box like this for addresses. She placed each person on a card. When the card got old or messy or torn, out it went and a new one appeared. There was enough room to add notes, like marriage dates, kids and birthdates or other events. She even added death dates. She was a card sender and kept track of receiving and responding for Christmas cards. So much easier than an address book to keep alphabetized and add more “s” names than the book allowed. For anyone old fashioned enough to use paper, it’s another idea.

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  10. Wow! It looks amazing! I haven’t had an opportunity to purchase any of that miraculous butter yet but from what I’ve seen, it really is a great product.

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  12. Looks great! It’s amazing how much better it looks with the inside paint and transfer. I’ll definitely have to try Big Mama’s Butta. Thanks for the inspiration.

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