It’s time for another toolbox!

This is one of the toolboxes from my Habitat for Humanity ReStore haul.  If you’ll remember, I found three of them at once earlier this winter.

I’ve already re-done the grey one that is under the blue one in that photo above.

Now I’ve completed the blue one.  As a reminder, here is the before.

As you can see, it was in rough shape with a lot of peeling paint and patches of rust.  After using some Goof Off Gunk Remover and a flat razor blade to remove that oval shaped label from the front, I gave the toolbox a good cleaning with Dawn dish soap and hot water.  Then I pulled out my new Mouse sander (my sister gave me a new one for Christmas, my old one had finally given up the ghost) and used 80 grit sandpaper to remove as much of the chippy, peeling paint as possible.

Then after another good cleaning, I gave it two coats of Dixie Belle’s clear Bonding Boss.  This time I followed the proper directions of applying two coats with 4 hours of dry time in between coats, followed by 24 hours of dry time after the 2nd coat.  Although Bonding Boss doesn’t technically prohibit the rust itself, it will help keep any remaining rust from bleeding through the paint.  In addition, any protective layer, whether it’s Bonding Boss or just paint, will also help reduce future rusting.

OK, so once my 24 hours were up I gave the inside of the box a couple of coats of Dixie Belle’s Bunker Hill Blue.

I applied a floral bit from the I.O.D. Lost Garden transfer (from their new spring release), since, spoiler alert, I was going to be using that transfer on the outside of the box as well.

Next I gave the outside two coats of Dixie Belle’s new color called Ecru.

If you are a fan of Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth, then you will LOVE Ecru.  It may be my new favorite warm white.  Obviously it’s not wildly different from Drop Cloth, but I would say it’s a bit less yellow and also just a tad darker.  Dixie Belle is calling it a ‘timeless beige’, but I think ‘beige’ has gotten a bad rap over the years.  Let’s call it a warm off-white with ‘an earthy undertone’.

Once the Ecru was dry, I sanded the box to distress the edges.  After wiping away any dust, I started applying the Lost Garden transfer.

According to The Painted Heirloom, this transfer is “designed with large décor in mind” so you could line up the first six pages into a cohesive design across the front of a large dresser for example.

But I chose to break it up and use it on this toolbox.

I cut various sections out of several different sheets and fitted them to my toolbox so that it appears as one continuous design.

By the way, as I was working with the transfer I was surprised to realize that three of the sheets are repeats (the first three sheets are repeated a 2nd time).  Just something to know if that sort of thing is an issue for you.

The thing that drew me to this particular transfer was the addition of the blackberries.

I love the combination of fruit and flowers.  It reminds me of Dutch still life paintings.

I’d left a space at the top of the toolbox for some typography and for that I pulled out my old standby, the I.O.D. Label Ephemera transfer.

How perfect is that?  That translates to something like “choice of the most beautiful flowers and fruits”.

I also added a number to the top of the toolbox …

As well as a tiny little bug to the latch.

Both of those are from old Tim Holtz rub-ons.

I actually painted up this toolbox a couple of weeks ago, but I couldn’t share it here until Dixie Belle released their new colors, which they did yesterday.  There are 7 new colors in their Southern Roots collection including Ecru.  Be sure to head to their website to check them out.  I think I’m going to try the Blue Grass next.

As for the toolbox, I actually took it into the shop to sell last week.  If any of you locals are interested, you could always pop by Reclaiming Beautiful in Stillwater, MN to check it out.

Thank you to Dixie Belle Paint Co. for providing me with samples of their new colors!