“Give shy persons the strength they need to get up and do what needs to be done. Made from whole wheat raised by Norwegian bachelor farmers, so you know they’re not only good for you, they’re pure, mostly.”

Were any of you fans of A Prairie Home Companion?  The radio show on public radio?  OK, this one makes me sound older than I am because I was a fan of a radio show (as if I was around before TV).  But it was on the air from 1974 through 2016.  It originally started at a local college here, Macalester.  If that name sounds familiar to some of you non-locals, maybe it’s because I regularly go to a neighborhood garage sale in that area, MacGrove.

Anyway, one of the fictional sponsors of the show was Powdermilk Biscuits.  When I mentioned how fast Monday’s toolbox sold, Mr. Q started singing the Powdermilk Biscuit jingle.

Has your family tried them, Powdermilk?
Has your family tried them, Powdermilk!
Well, if your family’s tried ’em,
You know you’ve satisfied ’em,
They’re a real hot item, Powdermilk!

Which brings me to the 2nd toolbox that I transformed last week.  If you’ll remember, here is the ‘before’ photo.

This is one that my friend Sue found for me.

I started out with my usual prep; a good cleaning with a grease cutting cleanser (Dawn dish soap in this case), a light sanding to remove any flaking paint and to scuff up the surface, then two coats of Dixie Belle’s B.O.S.S. to show this toolbox who’s boss.

Next I painted the inside and the tray in Dixie Belle’s Bunker Hill Blue.  I chose that color because I thought it would be gorgeous with the Cobalt Flourish decoupage paper from re.design with prima.

Before decoupaging this paper to the bottom of the tray, I had to paint just the part I was covering up in DB’s Drop Cloth in order to provide a white background for the tissue paper design.

Once I had the inside finished, I painted the outside in Dixie Belle’s Sawmill Gravy.  I then used this toolbox to experiment with my new I.O.D. stamps, and you’ll see those details in a later post.  Suffice to say, spoiler alert, I didn’t love the results.  So I ended up painting over them with a stripe of Dixie Belle’s French Linen down the center of the toolbox.

Next I pulled out some wording from I.O.D.’s Label Ephemera transfer and added that to the toolbox.

Then I took a step back and thought it was still just a little bare looking.  It needed something more.

So I pulled out the I.O.D. Brocante transfer.  As I was looking through the various designs in that transfer, this botanical one with a blue flower caught my eye …

I realized it would wrap around from the front of the toolbox to the top of it perfectly, plus the blue flower would tie in with the Bunker Hill Blue on the inside.  Not to mention, the butterflies would tie in perfectly as well.

Then I saw a 2nd botanical design with a blue flower in that set.

It was also nearly the perfect size to wrap up and over, it just covered up a tiny bit of the “N” in Naturalist’s.  Of course, it would have been better to put the florals on first, then layer the wording over them.  Had I planned this out, I would have done that.

But this design was continuously evolving as I went along.

In fact, when I then put the tray with the Cobalt Flourish paper lining back inside it was all wrong.  I meant to take a photo so that I could show you what I mean, but completely forgot.  You’ll just have to imagine it.  It just didn’t mesh with the botanicals on the outside of the toolbox.

So I made the decision to remove the decoupage tissue and just leave the inside plain.

If you’re wondering how hard it is to remove the prima decoupage paper that was applied with DB’s clear coat, it’s not that hard.  I misted it with water, let it sit for a minute, and then it scraped right off with a paint scraper.  Of course, it hadn’t had a chance to cure, I think it had been about 24 hours since I put it on.  I’m sure it would become more difficult to remove over time.  But once I had it off, I sanded the tray down a bit and added a fresh coat of the Bunker Hill Blue.

I love the rich, pop of navy blue inside …

but the outside is the real star of the show.

This toolbox is for sale locally, and they’re a real hot item, so if any of you locals (I don’t ship my items) are interested, be sure to check out my ‘available for local sale‘ page for more details.

As always, thank you to Dixie Belle Paint Co for supplying the B.O.S.S., paint and sealer I used for this project.