I ended up bringing four Christmas themed toolboxes into the shop for the holiday season this year, and much to my surprise they have all sold already.

I really felt like I was taking a chance with them.  After all, if they didn’t sell I’d have to hang onto them for a full year before I could try again next year.  Well … maybe that’s not entirely true, I could have tried selling them at my occasional sale in the spring.  But typically holiday items don’t sell well in summer.

I really just wasn’t sure if people would get it.  I mean, I know you can use a Christmas toolbox in a variety of ways, but does anyone else?

For example, you can use one to display your non-collection of vintage tree toppers.

You can also use one to store your favorite fragile glass ornaments.

How about using a tacklebox to corral your Christmas card writing supplies (does anyone even do cards anymore?).

They also make fantastic gift ‘boxes’.

I’ve done a couple of different toolbox gifts over the years.

And that brings me to my latest toolbox creation.

But let’s start at this story at the beginning.  I wanted to create more Christmas toolboxes for the shop, but I was all out of the raw materials, ie. some toolboxes.  So my friend opK and I stopped in at our favorite Habitat for Humanity Restore.  I have had good luck finding toolboxes there in the past, so we headed in with fingers crossed.

Sure enough, we found two of them!

Yee haw!

I decided to start with the slightly smaller one.

After using a razor blade to scrape off the “Powr Kraft” label, I gave it a good scrub with Dawn dish soap.  Unfortunately, my garden hose is put away for the winter so I had to do this in my kitchen sink this time around, rather than out in the back yard.  It’s so much easier in the back yard.

But I got it done.  I followed that up with a good scuff sanding and another rinse, and then I added a coat of Dixie Belle’s clear Bonding Boss.  I won’t paint a toolbox without it anymore.  It keeps any rust from leaching through my paint, and it also aids in the adhesion of the paint to a metal, and quite likely still a little greasy, surface.

Next up I painted the inside in my new favorite Christmas red, Dixie Belle’s Barn Red.

I added a transfer from the I.O.D. Clementine set to the inside of the lid.

Does that just pop on the red or what?

As for the outside, I painted it in Dixie Belle’s Ecru and then added a few more Clementine transfers.

I had to get creative with cutting and re-arranging a few of the various Clementine designs to fit my toolbox.

But I was able to take two 12″ tall sheets and rework them to fit the front of my 7″ tall toolbox.

It wasn’t until I was adding a topcoat of Dixie Belle’s clear wax that I realized how perfect this toolbox would be as a gift box.  Just fill it with all kinds of delicious charcuterie board ingredients.

Perfect for Christmas, but also perfect any time of the year.  The Clementine transfer doesn’t scream Christmas, but has a bit of a wintery look with its deep green foliage and those bright red flowers and berries.

By the way, if you didn’t see my blogiversary giveaway post last week, go back and check it out.  I’m including the Bonding Boss, Barn Red, Ecru and clear wax in that giveaway.  Everything you need to create your own Charcuterie toolbox except for the toolbox itself and that I.O.D. Clementine transfer (you can still find it online at The Painted Heirloom, which is where I ordered all three of mine!).

As for this Charcuterie toolbox, I took it into Reclaiming Beautiful last week before I left for Mexico.  I’m not sure whether or not it’s still there, but if you’re local and in need of a fun, unique gift box you may want to pop in and see.