a sweet little box.

Published on by Quandie

I feel a little bit like I should apologize for today’s makeover.

I’m sure that someone put their heart into hand-painting this little wooden recipe box.

It was certainly sweet, and very well done, but maybe just a tad outdated.  I’ve re-done a few of these recipe boxes over the years and I always enjoy the process.

So when I saw it in the thrift shop, I couldn’t resist buying it so I could give it a little makeover.

I started by sanding down the hand-painted flowers and then giving the box a fresh coat of Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth.  After giving that a quick sanding to smooth out the surface and distress the edges, I pulled out all of my transfer scraps and just had fun decorating the box.

I started with some florals from I.O.D.’s Floral Anthology.  I wrapped them around each side of the box.

As well as up and over the top.

I used a mish mash of transfers for the wording on the top, some are from re.design with prima’s Classic Vintage Labels, and some are from I.O.D.’s Label Ephemera.

The little ‘No. 4899’ on the front of the box is from a Tim Holtz transfer.

I painted the inside of the box using Dixie Belle’s Silk paint in Cactus.

I tried to stage my photos in such a way as to show that the lid is not hinged, it comes off.  But just in case that wasn’t obvious so far …

You could use this as a keepsake box, or maybe a gift box filled with candies.

Or of course, you could just use this as a recipe box.  I’m curious, does anyone keeps recipe cards any more?  I know that I don’t, at least not at the moment.  But one day (when mom’s done using them) I will hang onto my mom’s handwritten recipe cards … unless my sister takes them all!  Do any of you keep family recipes that have been handed down on index cards?

You know what would be an amazing keepsake?  Mom’s recipes mixed with photos of her, especially those of her cooking.

Hmmmm … I’m giving myself an idea here.

I turned a recipe box into a ‘scrapbook’ a while back,

but that time it was with travel photos …

This time around I could intermix scrapbooked index cards with actual recipe cards.  I think I just came up with a great winter project idea for myself!

But I’ll keep an eye out for another box to use for that project, and then decorate it specifically for that.

So this particular box is for sale locally.

I’ll bring it into the shop, unless one of you locals want to snatch it up first in which case be sure to check my ‘available for local sale‘ page for more details.

Thank you to Dixie Belle Paint Co for supplying the paint used on this project.

16 thoughts on “a sweet little box.”

  1. I like a recipe box. It’s tangible . I have a bunch of recipes saved to my home screen and as I try them,I make a list to print off. I keep them in page protectors in a 3 ring binder. There just something about having that box at the ready. Loved the transformation. Love your idea of the memory recipie box project. Sounds like a great project for anyone who has a collection of cherished recipies. Have a blessed day.

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  2. That’s a great idea! I see these little boxes at the thrift store a lot. You’ve inspired me to try transfers. I think I need one for seed packets.

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  3. I have Great Grandma Maries recipe box. Red metal, worn where it was handled. She has a recipe for bathtub gin in there. Their house was quite the party house back in the day.

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  4. Your recipe box did indeed turn out very sweet. While I do not maintain index card recipes myself, I do have my Momma’s 5 recipe boxes. Coincidentally, I just pulled them out of my kitchen cupboards last week to look for a recipe. We were planning a little family picnic and one of the staple side dishes we always had back in the day was pea salad. My sister and I got into a bit of a debate as to what all our Mother put in it. Unfortunately, I didn’t find that recipe. I think it was just something my Mom made without the need for a recipe. Oh well, I had a teary-eyed good time going through those boxes and seeing all the care my Mom put in to organizing her recipe treasures. 😊🥹

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  5. I love that makeover. My sister has my great great grandmother’s hand written cook book. It is amazing! I have Index cards from mother and grandmother. That is a great idea of pictures and cooking. Now I’ll have to go down memory lane and look!
    Smiles, alice

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  7. I can tell you had fun transforming this little box, Miss Quandie! Masterful job as per usual 😀 And I LOVE the title you gave the post…….makes me think of the Candyland game box: A sweet little game for sweet little folks”!

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  8. Yes, I already have a recipe box and it is full of recipes. Some from mom and lots from other people too. Mom may have a few I still want. But you can have the rest.

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