Category: toolboxes.

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.

Are you wondering whether or not I ever buy anything at my own occasional sale?

Well, if so, the answer is yes.  I do usually find one of two goodies that either Sue or opK bring to sell.

At my recent sale, I purchased two items.

First up, this fabulous planter.

I love the shape of it, the swag detail and most of all the patina.

I planted it up with some heuchera, coleus and a begonia.  It’s perfect in this shady spot in my front, north facing, garden.

I also purchased a metal box with a hinged lid.  Unfortunately I totally neglected to take a ‘before’ photo of it.  Darn.

But here is the ‘after’.

I’m tempted to call it a recipe box, because it is hinged like your typical metal recipe box.  But it’s about twice as tall.  It’s also made out of very heavy duty metal, it’s not flimsy.

Even the hinge seems quite substantial.

It seems like this box must have had a more industrial use, rather than just as a simple recipe box.

Regardless, I’ve given it a whole new look.  After giving it a good cleaning and a scuff sanding, I gave it a coat of Dixie Belle’s Bonding Boss inside and out.

Next I painted the inside in two coats of Dixie Belle’s Guacamole.

Once dry I sealed it with Dixie Belle’s flat clear coat.  After allowing that to dry thoroughly, I added a transfer from I.O.D.’s By Any Other Name set inside the lid.

I painted the outside in Dixie Belle’s Ecru, then after sanding to distress the edges, I applied various bits and pieces from the I.O.D. Primrose Isle transfer collection.

I wrapped the florals around each side.

These side views also show you how substantial the seams are on this box as well.

I finished off the box with a coat of Dixie Belle’s clear wax.

Now all that’s left is for someone to decide what to use it for.

If you’re someone who either sends a lot of greeting cards or receives and saves a lot of greeting cards, this box would be the perfect size for them.

I am not really one of those people though, so I only had flash cards to use for the photo shoot.  But you get the idea, right?

What would you use this box for?  Leave a comment and let me know.

If you are local and in need of a really cool, and substantial, box check out my ‘available for local sale‘ page!

Welcome back for the final installment of toolbox week!

I have a confession to make, this isn’t my favorite style of toolbox.

I’m not sure what it is, but somehow I just don’t love this shape where it’s deeper at the top than at the bottom.

I have done at least one like this in the past, and it turned out fine …

But I really struggled with this next one.

I started out painting it red on the outside and navy blue on the inside because I thought I’d do another Norwegian flag toolbox like this one.

But I just wasn’t loving it in the red.

So I painted over both the inside and outside with black.  I was thinking I’d do another one like this one …

But then I didn’t love that either.

So I painted over the inside yet again, this time in Dixie Belle’s Oxford Fog.

That’s such a pretty color.

Then I painted over the exterior in DB’s Drop Cloth.

I must admit, it felt a little boring at first.  But then I gave it a major distressing job using my mouse sander and some 150 grit paper.  That started bring it to life.

I followed that up with some really lovely florals from the I.O.D. Madeleine transfer.

And the bird is pretty gorgeous too.

The typography comes from an old re.design with prima transfer called Catalogue.  This one goes way, way back.  And actually, I didn’t buy this one, I’m pretty sure this is one that my reader Monica sent to me (correct me if I’m wrong on that Monica).

I rearranged the words a little, and I only had bits and pieces from the original full transfer, but it worked out perfectly.

In the end, I think this one turned out quite nice.

It might even be my favorite.

But then again …

Now it’s your chance to share your opinion.  Which of the five boxes I shared this week was your favorite?

The Les Fleurs lunchbox …

the Italian tacklebox …

the simple black toolbox …

the English wildflower toolbox …

or today’s architecture et arts décoratif toolbox?

Leave a comment and let me know.

Welcome back for day 4 of toolbox week.

Here is where today’s toolbox started out.

Not too terrible.  I rather liked the subdued shade of green, so I tried to copy it for the interior as you’ll see in a minute.

But first, yes, this one got the same prep as the others.  A good wash, slight scuff sanding and a coat of Dixie Belle’s Bonding Boss inside and out.

Then I gave the inside a coat of Dixie Belle’s Highlands.

It’s not an exact match to that original color, but in the same neighborhood.

Next up I gave the outside a couple of coats of Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth.  Once dry, I applied quite a few wildflower transfers from I.O.D.’s Primrose Isle set.

The detail on these is just lovely.

The flowers are so delicate looking.

The typography I used on top is from that same collection.

I’m afraid I don’t really know anything about the wild flowers of the British Isles, so I’m not sure if all of the flowers qualify.  But does anyone really notice that level of detail?

So far I think this might be my favorite toolbox of the week.  What do you think?

As with all of this week’s toolboxes, this one will be available at my upcoming occasional sale unless someone snatches it up ahead of time by checking out my ‘available for local sale‘ page.