It’s Day 3 of toolbox week, and when working on today’s project I thought I’d go in a slightly different direction.  A little less floral (although yes, there are still some flowers), and a little less pink, or green.

But first, here is the before.

I thought this one was in decent shape, but when I got started sanding and cleaning it, I realized that the bottom was pretty rusty and had even rusted through in a couple of small spots.

So right from the beginning I thought I might not want to use too many expensive transfers or paint inlays on this one.  There’s a chance that no one will even want it, and I’ll certainly have to price it lower than the others.

That meant I could just play around with a bit though.

I started with a rather neutral color scheme.  I painted the interior in Dixie Belle’s Sawmill Gravy, and the outside in their Dried Sage.  It has been a bit since I’ve worked with this pair, and I forgot how much I like them.

Once the Sawmill Gravy on the interior was dry, I realized I needed to do something about those small holes.  So I pulled out some decoupage paper from re.design with prima called Dark Damask.

I used Dixie Belle’s flat clear coat as a decoupage medium and applied it to the inside bottom of the box.  It ended up working beautifully to cover up those holes, and it goes perfectly with my neutral color scheme as you’ll see in a minute.

Next I pulled out some scraps from the I.O.D. Cosette transfer.

Some of you may remember that I’ve used bits and pieces of this particular transfer on a variety of things.  Most of the wording in the center of the design went on a toolbox.

I used some of the other lines of text on toolboxes too …

and I even used some of it in my dollhouse bathroom.

All I had left of it was the floral design, which is beautiful, but I just haven’t managed to come across just the right piece to put it on.

So I decided to chop it up and use some of it on this toolbox.

After adding just that bit to one side, I rather liked the asymmetrical look so rather than add more of it on the other side, I decided to just add some typography from the I.O.D. Label Ephemera transfer.

And that was it.  After giving it a coat of Dixie Belle’s clear wax, I decided to call it done.

I think this one would be perfect to hold office supplies on your desk, or to put on a bookshelf next to some vintage books.  If your decor is more neutral (as is mine), it would fit right in.

In fact, if no one buys this one I may just keep it for myself.

Also, FYI, I decided to head over the The Painted Heirloom to order another Cosette transfer.  I happened to see that is is currently on sale (as of yesterday anyway) for $28, and since so far I’ve gotten 3 toolboxes plus one dollhouse bathroom out of it, that seems like a bargain to me.

The industries toolbox is for sale locally, be sure to check my ‘available for local sale‘ page if you are interested.

Also, be sure to leave me a comment and let me know if you like this one.