It may be shark week over on the Discovery Channel, but here on q is for quandie it’s ‘toolbox week’!

As you know, I’ve been picking up a lot of toolboxes lately, like this haul from the So. St. Paul garage sales.

And then this one from Spring Lake Park.

Then my friend Sue told me about a sale down the street from me where I found two more.

My friend Jackie also grabbed some toolboxes that were ‘free at the curb’ for me.

So, yeah, I have a lot of toolboxes to work on, so why not make a week of it!

Let’s start with this toolbox that I picked up at the So. St. Paul city wide garage sales.

I thought it had a bit of a homemade vibe.

As much as I liked the worn blue paint that was already on it, these metal boxes really don’t sell for me ‘as is’.  So of course I gave it a fresh paint job … on the outside anyway.  I left the inside alone.

It was clean, there wasn’t any rust, and I like that galvanized look.

I prepped the outside for paint by first giving it a good cleaning, then a light scuff sanding.  After rinsing away any dust, I applied a coat of Dixie Belle’s Bonding Boss and left it to dry overnight.

Next I gave the toolbox two coats of Dixie Belle’s Ecru.  Then after sanding to distress the edges, I simply applied one of I.O.D.’s Seed Catalogue transfers.

I did have to cut off the “Northern Grown” portion of the transfer to then position it above the handle, but that was easy enough.

This transfer is a particularly good one for me since it makes this box feel local.

See it there at the bottom?  St. Paul, Minn.?  Perfect.

After adding a top coat of Dixie Belle’s clear wax, I called this one done.

I wonder what the original purpose of this box was.  It’s a bit small for holding tools.  Could it have been used as a lunchbox?  What do you think it once held?  Be sure to leave a comment and let me know.

Regardless of its original purpose, I think it would work well for holding all of your ribbon and string.  I would also be perfect for your desk top, holding various office supplies like a stapler, tape and post-it notes.  And of course, you could also put it in the outhouse to keep the t.p. dry.

Remember Ellie who purchased my ‘rusty crustiest’ toolbox to use in her outhouse?  She followed through and sent me a photo.

I think it’s perfect!

If you need a toolbox for your outhouse, or for any other purpose, the Northern Grown toolbox is for sale locally, check out my ‘available for local sale‘ page for more details.