Category: toolboxes.

I’ve got another toolbox to share with you today.

Here’s where this one started out …

It was a bit beat up, and a bit rusty.  Nothing that a little TLC couldn’t fix.

After giving it a good scrub, I sanded it to remove any flaking paint and a good amount of rust.  Then I washed it up again and let it dry out in the sun.  I followed that up with two coats of Dixie Belle’s Bonding Boss (they recommend two coats for best results when blocking stains, in this case I decided to be extra cautious due to the amount of rust).

Next up I painted the outside in my own custom mix that I call Garden Green, that’s Dixie Belle’s Acadia and Everglades combined together.

I was actually using up some of this custom mix that I had left over from a previous project, so in the end I only had enough paint for the outside of the toolbox.  So initially I left the inside unpainted while I decided on what I was going to do on the outside.

I wanted to do something similar to that previous toolbox using some white roses and other florals, but as it turned out I didn’t have any of those left.  I considered ordering more, but I have so. many. transfers in my stash.  Surely I could come up with something that would look good over that green without spending more money!

That’s when I decided that the I.O.D. Clementine transfer would be perfect.

It does have some of those white florals, but they are paired with winter fruits like pomegranates and clementines.

This transfer was part of the 2025 I.O.D. winter release, and I did use Clementine transfers on a few things last year like these books …

And these ice skates.

But I still had quite a bit of it left, so I filled up most of the space on the top and front of this toolbox.

I added a little wreath of sorts from the I.O.D. By Any Other Name transfer just under the handle as well.

Once this was done I had to decide on a color for the interior.

I ended up using Dixie Belle’s French Villa because it’s nearly the exact color of the ribbons with wording on them in the transfers.

Perhaps it’s a bit blah, maybe I should have gone with orange, or the rusty red of the pomegranate.  Then again, the outside of this toolbox has a lot going on so maybe a more simple interior is OK.

I applied a coat of Dixie Belle’s clear wax to protect the transfers, but all of the paint was from Dixie Belle’s Silk line with its built in topcoat so the paint itself didn’t require any additional protection.

I’m bringing this toolbox, plus a couple of others in to Reclaiming Beautiful in Stillwater this evening so if any of you locals are interested they should be in the shop when it opens tomorrow.

As for the rest of you, leave a comment and let me know what you think of this one!

Well shucks.  Turns out I once again neglected to get a ‘before’ photo of today’s toolbox.  To make up for it, I took ‘before’ photos of the next toolboxes I’m working on twice!  I wasn’t sure I’d taken them, so I took them again.  Turns out I already had.

It’s a bummer that I don’t have a ‘before’ of this one because it was pretty gross.  It was covered in grease and grime, and it had been written on with a Sharpie.

Oh well, you’ll just have to imagine it.  It took a couple of passes with the Dawn dish soap and hot water to clean it up.  Once dry I gave it a coat of Dixie Belle’s Bonding Boss inside and out to improve adhesion just in case there were any greasy residues still left behind.  It also blocks that Sharpie ink, that stuff tends to bleed thru paint sometimes.

This small toolbox was red to start out with, so I decided to keep it red on the inside, giving it two coats of Dixie Belle’s Barn Red.

As for the transfer inside the lid, that is from one of the new I.O.D. holiday sets called Stag Tavern.

More on that in a minute.

As for the outside, I painted that in Dixie Belle’s French Villa.  Once dry, I used more of the Stag Tavern transfers to decorate the top and front.

Although these transfers are from the 2026 holiday collection, I don’t think they are overtly Christmas-y.

This transfer certainly has the right colors for the season, mainly red and green.  And there is a little glimpse of some holly in the upper left.  Then there is that ribbon with a mostly obscured message … something about seasons?

So, somewhat, but not entirely, Christmas-y.

Regardless, I do think they are gorgeous.

That being said, I also find them difficult to work with because most of the elements are designed in ‘portrait’ orientation (rather than ‘landscape’) like the one shown above, and that doesn’t work well on a toolbox.

Also, because the elements are fairly layered over each other, it’s difficult to separate and re-arrange them into a wider, shorter layout without losing a lot of the design.

In the case of this toolbox, I used the “D.M. Ferry & Co’s.” and “Tavern 1875.” wording, but wasn’t able to use the center “Stag” section because the stag’s horns are layered over it.

I was able to carefully trim out some of the florals to drape down the sides of my toolbox.

But personally I find that a transfer that includes separate elements that I can put together to suit my piece is more versatile.  I suspect I might be in the minority on that though.  Let me know what you think?

Let me know what you think of this toolbox too!

It’s time for another toolbox.

Unfortunately, this is another one where I forgot to get a before photo.  However, I can tell you that it looked almost identical to this one …

It’s just a little bit smaller.  Same color and same general condition though.

It also received the same general prep that I do on all of my toolboxes; a good scrubbing, followed by some scuff sanding and another rinse, then a coat of Dixie Belle’s Bonding Boss to prevent rust bleed through and improve adhesion of my final paint.

Next up I painted the interior of the box in that gorgeous new-ish Dixie Belle color called Sanctuary.

I also added a bird from the I.O.D. By Any Other Name transfer inside the lid.

Sanctuary is a chalk mineral style paint and does need a topcoat for protection, as does the transfer.  I went with the easiest (but not most cost effective) option this time, I gave it two coats of Rust-Oleum matte spray sealer.

As for the outside of the box, I painted it in Dixie Belle’s French Villa.  Then I added a few more images from the By Any Other Name transfer.

I’m sure this looks a bit familiar to you.  This is the 3rd time I’ve used this particular bird on a toolbox.

If interested, you can find the other two here and here.  I guess you could say I’m a fan.

The French Villa paint is from Dixie Belle’s Silk line, so technically it doesn’t require a topcoat.  However, the transfer does need some protection so I added a coat of Dixie Belle’s clear wax on the outside of the box.

When deciding what props to use to stage my photos I came across my Audubon’s Birds of America book and decided to lean into the bird theme.

This would be the perfect toolbox for anyone who love birds, don’t you agree?

To see if it is still available, check out my ‘available for local sale‘ page.

As always, thank you to Dixie Belle Paint Co for supplying their products used in this makeover.

Sometimes I just get it wrong.

Such was the case with today’s toolbox.

But let’s start at the beginning, shall we?

This one was in pretty good shape, no flaking paint, no rust, no greasy residue.  Nonetheless, I washed it up, scuff sanded it and gave it a coat of Dixie Belle’s Bonding Boss.

Then I painted it inside and out in their Apricot chalk mineral paint.

Next up I added a bunch of pinky/peachy roses from various I.O.D. transfers.  So far, so good.  But the next step is where I went wrong.  I decided to layer one of the I.O.D. Étiquettes gilded transfers over the roses.

Nope, definitely not working for me.

I’ve struggled a bit with these gilded transfers.  The first time I tried them was pretty much a fail.

But then I tried them again, only this time I kept them as more of a background sort of thing on this pair of painted ice skates …

and on some books.

Then I got a bit braver and added one to the inside of this box.

I think the secret is letting them shine (literally and figuratively) over a solid background color rather than trying to layer them over something else.

That just ends up looking way too busy.

I was pretty bummed after I got the gilded transfer in place because I had used quite a few roses to create the background.  I really didn’t want to have to sand them all down and start over.

So I decided to see if I could just sand off the gold transfer without damaging the roses.

Um, no.  Of course not.  So then I thought maybe I could just lightly sand the roses too, and then everything would look sort of distressed.  Um, no.  That didn’t work either, and sorry, I didn’t take any photos at that point.

But then I thought perhaps I could just paint over the gold transfer and disguise that by adding more roses over that area.  So I pulled out my Apricot paint and dabbed it on.

I quickly realized I’d have to sacrifice the one large pink rose to the right too.

Once the paint was dry, I added another rose on that right hand side, and then a pretty label from the I.O.D. By Any Other Name transfer.

Ta da!  I think I saved it!

The lightly sanded transfers end up looking like a distressed finish.

I like that look personally, although I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea.

I’ll admit that this may not be one of my all time favorite toolbox makeovers, but in the end I think it turned out fairly well.

Have you ever added a transfer, and then wished you hadn’t?  Leave me a comment and let me know.

I warned you that you would be seeing a few more items painted in my custom Dixie Belle color that I’m calling Garden Green, so welcome to another toolbox post.

As a refresher (or for anyone who is new), Garden Green is a mix of two Dixie Belle colors …

Everglades and Acadia.

I don’t have a precise ratio for you, I just mix them until I like how it looks.

Technically today’s project is a tackle box rather than a toolbox, but it is painted in this gorgeous green.  But first, here is where it started out.

As you can see, this was Chuck’s box.

To prep, I first scraped off all of the various labels.  There were quite a few, including several on the inside.  I followed that up with my usual cleaning with Dawn dish soap, a scuff sanding to remove any flaking rust or paint and then a coat of Dixie Belle’s Bonding Boss.

Next up I painted it inside and out with my custom Garden Green.

Recently one of my readers asked me to mention the approximate amount of time that each step in this process takes, and to be honest, it’s kind of hard to judge.  When painting a toolbox there are a lot of steps with a lot of drying time in between.  For example, paint the inside, let it dry, give it a 2nd coat, let it dry, paint the bottom, let it dry, put a 2nd coat on the bottom, let it dry, flip the box over and paint the sides, let them dry, and so on and so on.

Also, painting a tackle box with a tray or a toolbox with a removable tray, takes a bit more time than a box without a tray.

Each individual painting step takes mere minutes to do, but drying time really depends on the weather.  If it’s super humid it can take much longer than if it’s dry and breezy.  I also like to let the Bonding Boss cure overnight.  It’s also a good idea to let the paint cure overnight before adding transfers as well.

So this is not a ‘done in one day’ sort of thing, but it’s also not a ‘work for hours and hours steadily’ sort of thing.

I find that it’s much more efficient to stock up on several toolboxes and then work on them all at once, sort of assembly line style.  But obviously, not everyone is painting up a bunch at once.  In that case, it’s a great project to work on while doing laundry or cleaning the house.

So, going back to Chuck’s Box.  After the paint was dry, I pulled out a couple of I.O.D. transfers that featured white flowers and starting adding them to the box.

I didn’t keep specific track of which flowers were from which set of transfers, but I used some from Sarah Featon’s Botanicals, By Any Other Name and Rose Botanical.

The label on the top of the box is from By Any Other Name.

Isn’t that gorgeous?

Once the transfers were in place I added a coat of Dixie Belle’s clear wax to protect them.

This tackle box with its divided tray would be perfect for corralling all of your little crafting gizmos.

It would also make a great sewing box.

Now, before I put away my Garden Green paint for the day, I want to share another quick do-over project.

You probably don’t remember this one, but way back in March 2023 I shared a project using the Dixie Shine metallic foil.

You can check out that full post here.

But basically I took this …

to this …

I had these hanging in my own house for a little while, but eventually took them down and put them in my occasional sale.  They didn’t sell though.  I was literally about to put them in the ‘donate’ pile, but then thought maybe I should just try them without the gold.

So I painted over the frames with my Garden Green.  I didn’t do any special prep, just wiped them down with a damp cloth first.  I needed two coats to get good coverage, and the paint adhered to the foil just fine.

Once the paint was dry, I used one of the Dixie Belle Sanding Sponges to lightly distress it.

I really expected to see more of the gold coming through, but I mostly ended up going down to the coat of black that I had used under it the first time around.  But that ended up being just fine.

I decided to finish these off with some of Dixie Belle’s Big Mama’s Butta with some of their brown wax mixed in.  It added just a little more depth to the paint color.

Improvement?  I think so.  What do you think?

Leave a comment and let me know.

Both the tacklebox and the tile artworks are for sale, check out my ‘available for local sale‘ page if interested.

As always, thank you to Dixie Belle Paint Co for supplying their products used in these makeovers.

While I had the Dixie Belle Blue Grass paint out for the mini hall stand that I shared on Tuesday, I thought I’d use it on today’s toolbox.

But first, here is where it started out.

It wasn’t in bad shape, just a little dirty.  I still gave it my usual prep of cleaning, scuff sanding and a coat of Dixie Belle’s Bonding Boss.

Then I painted the inside in that pretty Blue Grass paint.

Once dry I added a transfer from the I.O.D. By Any Other Name set.

Next up I painted the outside in Dixie Belle’s Oxford Fog.  The Oxford Fog and Blue Grass are perfect companions.

Once the Oxford Fog was dry, I added some florals from the I.O.D. Saint Germain transfer.

The typography is a mish mash from some older I.O.D. transfers.

I gave the box a final coat of Dixie Belle’s clear wax both inside and outside to finish it off.  Although the Oxford Fog is from the Silk Paint line (so has a built in top coat), the transfers benefit from a little protection as does the Blue Grass paint on the inside.

This little box is the perfect size for holding art supplies or any number of other small things that need to be kept in line.

This little box is for sale locally, check out my ‘available for local sale‘ page for more details.

As always, thank you to Dixie Belle Paint Co for supplying their products used in this makeover.

A while back one of my readers from Iowa reached out to offer me some items that she was discarding.  And even better, her son lives nearby and was willing to deliver them.  How generous!

One of the items she sent my way was a toolbox (thanks so much Vanessa).

I have to say, I don’t think I’ve ever worked on one this clean and new before.  Plus, Vanessa had already scuff sanded it a bit.  So aside from giving it a quick wash up, I was able to go straight to the Bonding Boss step.

In this case, I don’t need to block any rust or stains, but that surface was still a bit slick so the ‘bonding’ part of Bonding Boss will help my paint stick to the shiny metal.

I painted the inside of the toolbox in my new favorite custom green that I’m calling Garden Green.  It’s a mix of Dixie Belle’s Acadia and Everglades.

And, well, fair warning, I am really loving this color.  You’re going to see it a bunch more over the coming weeks so I hope you like it too.

As you can see, this toolbox came with a tray and I painted that up in the Garden Green too.

I then added a little French wording to the tray …

And actually, that scrap of typography was gifted to me by a reader as well.  When Monica was moving, she sent me a bunch of random bits of transfers and this bit worked out perfectly for the tray, so thanks again for that Monica!

As for the outside of the toolbox, I painted it in two coats of Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth.

One thing that I think is worth noting is that not only does the Bonding Boss block stains and odors, and improve the adhesion of your paint, it also make it easier to cover a color such as the original bright red of this toolbox.  Even the clear version, which is what I typically use.  I only needed two coats of Drop Cloth to cover up that red.

Once the drop cloth was dry I added some of those gorgeous florals from the I.O.D. Saint Germain transfer.

I decided to keep the look a little asymmetrical with the addition of some wording from the long retired and now very difficult to find I.O.D. Label Ephemera transfer.

Once everything was in place, I finished off the toolbox with Dixie Belle’s clear wax.

What do you think?  Do you like the asymmetrical look, or do you prefer a more balanced look?

Leave a comment and let me know.

In the meantime, this toolbox is for sale.  Check out my ‘available for local sale‘ page for more details.

It’s time for another toolbox.

I’m sure some of you are entirely tired of seeing so many toolboxes, but I just love doing them.  Plus, they are reasonably sized items that I can work on indoors when it’s 95° outside.

Also, I just keep finding plenty of them at garage/estate sales.  OpK and I stopped at an estate sale last week and I came home with three more!  Plus I had three that I found at a garage sale that my friend Sue gave me a heads up on already waiting in the wings.

So, yeah, the toolboxes aren’t going away any time soon.

With that being said, here is today’s toolbox.

As per usual, it was a bit rusty and quite filthy.  I gave it my usual prep;  cleaning, sanding down some rust, cleaning again, and then finally applying a coat of Dixie Belle’s Bonding Boss.

After allowing that to dry for 24 hours, I painted the interior of the box in Dixie Belle’s Secret Path.

I know I’ve said it before, but I think it bears repeating, I never thought I would love this color as much as I do.  I’ve never really been a purple girl, but this shade is so nice.  It’s not an in-your-face sort of purple.  Let’s just call it a classy purple.

In fact, I just ordered another jar of it because I’d used up the last of mine on this toolbox.

Before moving on, I added a coat of Dixie Belle’s flat clear coat to protect the interior of the toolbox.

I painted the outside of the toolbox in Dixie Belle’s Ecru.  Then I added some transfers from I.O.D.’s Primrose Isle collection.

The flowers in this one are just so pretty.

I do wish I.O.D. would provide just a bit more typography along with their florals though.

The Primrose Isle set has just a few bits and I could use more.

I do have butterflies coming out my ears though, and this one even has a grasshopper.

After I had all of the transfers in place, I finished off the outside of the toolbox with a coat of Dixie Belle’s clear wax.

Once again, this toolbox is for sale locally.  Check out my ‘available for local sale‘ page for more details.

Despite the fact that Dixie Belle has over 20 shades of green paint in their line up, they don’t seem to have the perfect shade of avocado green that I am looking for.

Clearly Holy Guacamole is close.

But I wanted something just a little bit different for today’s toolbox makeover.

I also thought maybe Cactus would work, but that’s too grey.

Another possibility is Everglades, but that one is really too bright for me.

English Ivy is one of my favorite Dixie Belle greens,

but it wasn’t quite what I wanted for this particular project.

So, I decided it was time to play around with mixing my own shade of green.  I thought perhaps I could just tone down that Everglades a bit by mixing in some of Dixie Belle’s Acadia.

I just kept mixing until I had the color I wanted.

Bingo!

I’ve decided to call it Garden Green.

It really ended up being just a little less vibrant shade of Everglades.  So, FYI, if you purchased Everglades and then found it a bit too much just mix in a little Acadia or similar.

And here’s what I put it on.

This toolbox was already green, but kind of a dull sort of army green.  I wanted the color to be just a little bit brighter.

After my usual prep of cleaning, scuff sanding and priming with Dixie Belle’s Bonding Boss, I painted it inside and out with my new shade of Garden Green.  Since I mixed this color using two shades from Dixie Belle’s Silk Paint line, I didn’t need to add a topcoat so I went straight in for adding some transfers.

I started with several of the white roses from the I.O.D. Rose Botanical set.

Once I had those placed, I added in a few little daisy type flowers (although maybe those are Feverfew rather than daisy) from the Wilde Bloemen set.

And actually, that white flower in the upper corner is from the Sarah Featon’s Botanicals set.  I seem to have pulled things from several different I.O.D. transfers, yet they all work together.

The typography section is from I.O.D.’s By Any Other Name transfer.

As is the transfer that I placed inside the lid.

So if you’re keeping track, yes I used four different transfers on this toolbox.  I certainly wouldn’t recommend buying 4 transfers just to complete one toolbox, but if you have bits and pieces of various transfers left over from previous projects it is nice to be able to combine them and have them still look cohesive.

Once all of the transfers were in place, I gave them a topcoat of Dixie Belle’s clear wax to protect them.

I have to say, this is absolutely one of my favorite toolbox makeovers to date.  I think that shade of green is gorgeous.  How about you?  Are there any other green lovers out there?  Were you ready for a pop of color rather than my usual white?

Leave a comment and let me know.

If you’re local and in need of a toolbox in the perfect shade of Garden Green, check out my ‘available for local sale‘ page!

You know what they say, when it rains, it pours.

It has been raining here a bit lately, but in this case I’m referring to toolboxes.

I seem to come home from every neighborhood garage sale with one or two toolboxes.  Plus my friend opK has found a couple of them for me.  And, my reader Vanessa has sent one up from Iowa (thanks again for that Vanessa!).

I hope that the market for upcycled toolboxes doesn’t dry up any time soon, because I have quite a few on hand to paint.

Here is where today’s toolbox started out …

It was pretty dirty, and starting to get a bit rusty.  So I gave it a good scrub, followed by sanding down some of the rust.  Then after letting a coat of Dixie Belle’s Bonding Boss dry overnight, I painted it inside and out with their French Villa Silk Paint.

Once the paint was dry, I used my electric palm sander to distress it back quite a bit.  I wanted to bring back that worn look.

Once I’d wiped away any dust from my sanding, I started creating a design using the I.O.D. By Any Other Name transfers.

I began with all of the images that had white roses.

But ultimately I decided to add in a couple of pink roses on either end at the bottom to fill out the space.

I added a butterfly and a bee too.

Although the Dixie Belle Silk paint doesn’t require a topcoat, I gave the outside a coat of clear wax to protect the transfers.

With that, I have to get outside and clean up a bunch more toolboxes to prep them for paint so I’d better get at it!

This toolbox is for sale locally, you can find those details here.