Category: toolboxes.

Welcome to the final installment of toolbox week.

Did I save the best for last?

I think that’s up to you, so be sure to leave your choice for best toolbox from toolbox week in a comment below.

Even if you don’t think that today’s toolbox is the best, it is definitely the largest.

Here’s how it started out.

Super rusty.

That much rust requires extra work in the prep stage.  I started by cleaning it with Dawn dish soap first.  Once dry, I sanded heavily using my Mouse sander and some 150 grit paper.  Then I had to clean it again, followed by leaving it in the sun to dry thoroughly.

Once dry I applied Dixie Belle’s Bonding Boss.  As I’ve mentioned before, the Bonding Boss does not specifically prevent rust.  Actually any paint job will help prevent future rust, as will keeping the toolbox dry and out of the elements.  The Bonding Boss is meant to prevent any remaining existing rust from bleeding through the paint.  Although I did sand away quite a bit of it, there is still some rust left behind.  The bottom of the box had the most rust, so I gave that part two coats of Bonding Boss (as per the instructions) to be extra sure it did the job.

Next up I painted the interior in Dixie Belle’s Cottage Door.

I then applied one of I.O.D.’s Floriography paint inlays inside the lid.

Next up I painted the exterior of the toolbox in two coats of Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth.  Once dry, I sanded to distress the edges, wiped away the dust and then started applying roses from I.O.D.’s Rose Botanical transfer.

I started with some of the largest roses on either side of the top, and then filled in with smaller ones on the front.

Next up I cobbled together some other bits and pieces from random transfers.  The “Richardson & Gould’s” at the top is from the old Seeds transfer from re.design with prima (retired design from years ago).  The London/Edinburgh stuff at the bottom is from the I.O.D. Label Ephemera transfer (also retired, and I’m starting to scrape the bottom on my stash of those).

I’m not 100% sure where the bee came from.  I went through a bit of a bee phase back in 2022 …

and I bought a lot of transfers that included some bees from both I.O.D. and re.design with prima.

I also added some old Tim Holtz rub-on transfers to the latches.

They are a tiny detail, but tiny details can be fun, right?

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

As with all of the toolboxes I’ve shared this week, this one is available for local sale (check out the details here).

I hope you’ve enjoyed toolbox week as much as I have.  I definitely had fun giving all of these boxes a new look.

I really don’t think I can pick a favorite, I like something different about each one.  I love the homemade feel of the Northern Grown toolbox.

And I really love that pretty Dixie Belle Secret Path lavender color inside the Memoires toolbox.

The neutral simplicity of the Industries toolbox definitely appeals to me and would work best with my own decor …

and I was surprised to discover just how much I liked the deep violet colors paired with the avocado green of Holy Guacamole on the Dark Side of the Moon tackle box.

Last, but not least, I love the roses on the Richardson & Gould toolbox that I shared today.

I hope you’ll take a minute to leave a comment and let me know which of the five toolboxes was your favorite!

My submission for day no. 4 of toolbox week is actually a tackle box rather than a toolbox, but I hope you’ll ignore that technicality.

I purchased this way back in May 2024.  It was in good shape, and the colors were decent.

I thought perhaps I could just sell it ‘as is’, but no.  It’s been in two of my Carriage House occasional sales now with no takers, reinforcing my opinion that I have to paint and embellish these items in order for them to be marketable.

So after giving it a quick scuff sanding, a good cleaning and then a coat of Dixie Belle’s Bonding Boss, I painted the inside in DB’s Holy Guacamole.

I painted the outside in Dixie Belle’s Ecru.  Once dry, I started adding some florals from a couple of different I.O.D. transfers.  Most are from Sarah Featon’s Botanicals, but some are from Wilde Bloemen.

I chose most of them based on that dusky deep violet color.

Although some I chose just because they were white and green only.

I wrapped the florals around each side from the front.

Once the florals were all in place, I added some wording from the I.O.D. Label Ephemera transfer.

And, as you may have noticed, I even added a bird to this one.

I also painted the handle in the Holy Guacamole.

I purposely chose to ‘pose’ this tackle box in the garden right in front of my Dark Side of the Moon astilbe.

That dark purple of the astilbe foliage (back right) works perfectly with those florals.

For a non-purple loving girl, I sure seem to be gravitating towards the purple these days.

What do you think of this one?  Leave a comment and let me know.  Also, be sure to check out my ‘available for local sale‘ page if you are in the market for a dark side of the moon tackle box.

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.

Toolbox week continues today with this one that was admittedly nothing special originally.

It’s not particularly vintage looking, and it’s red which is not my favorite color to work with.

However, it is in great shape and it’s a nice size.  Not too big, not too small.

After peeling off both of those labels on the front, I gave this one a good cleaning with Dawn dish soap.  Then I gave it a light scuff sanding followed by a coat of Dixie Belle’s Bonding Boss.  Although this one didn’t have any rust that would bleed through my paint, it did have a pretty shiny, slick surface.  The Bonding Boss will help my paint adhere to that.

Next up I pulled out the I.O.D. Saint Germain transfer.  I knew I wanted to use it on this toolbox, so I thought I would pick a color from it for the inside of the box.

Some of the leaves have this pretty muted purple in them …

so I decided to go with Dixie Belle’s Secret Path for the interior including the tray.

Once my two coats of Secret Path were dry, I sanded over them with one of Dixie Belle’s sanding sponges.

I like to use these when I want to have a more gentle approach to sanding.  In this case, I didn’t want to go through to the red that was underneath, I just wanted to smooth out my paint giving it a lovely buttery finish.

After sanding and wiping away any dust, I added a scrap from an old I.O.D./re.design with prima (before they parted ways) transfer to the handle.

That means ‘first edition’ in French, and will make a little bit more sense when you see the rest of it.

Next up I painted the outside of the box in one of the new colors from the Dixie Belle Southern Roots collection called Magnolia.  I would say that this color is just a wee bit brighter than the Drop Cloth that is my usual choice for a warm white.

After two coats of the Magnolia were dry, this time I sanded a bit more vigorously using my Mouse sander and 220 grit paper.  I wanted to add some wear, and I decided it would be OK to have a little red showing on the outside of the box since my transfer has some red in it too.

You may remember I used the I.O.D. Saint Germain transfer once before on a toolbox.

I’ve also used it on a 2nd toolbox that I can’t share with you just yet.  You see, I painted that one in an as yet unreleased paint color from Dixie Belle.  So I can’t share it until the official reveal date which is going to be sometime in August.  I can tell you that I absolutely love it, and I can’t wait to share.

But in the meantime, I love this Saint Germain transfer so much that I ordered two more of them.

  That ended up being a lucky thing, because I used both of them on this toolbox.  Let me try to explain.  As you can see, this transfer comes with 8 pages of different elements.  But I wanted just one particular, slightly more delicate looking section on this toolbox.

So I used just a part of the florals on pages 3 and 4 on the front of the box.  But then I decided I really wanted to continue them on up and over the top and down each side a little bit.  So I used those same bits from my second transfer to do that.

That’s probably way too much explanation for most of you, but I just wanted to make sure it was clear that you could not replicate the exact look of today’s toolbox using just one Saint Germain transfer.  Just in case anyone is want to copy this look.

It may seem a little crazy that I purchased two transfers to complete just one little toolbox, but I didn’t actually plan it that way.  I wanted two of them because this transfer is so pretty I knew I would want to use it over and over again.  I can easily get 5 or 6 toolboxes out of each one.

After the florals were in place, I added some more typography from the rest of that old I.O.D./re.design with prima transfer called Memoir.  I did alter it a bit by removing some scrolly bits that I didn’t like.

This is where the ‘first edition’ on the tray makes a little more sense since the rest of the typography basically says something about the Marquise de Cremy’s memoires ‘written by herself’.

So hey, if you’re planning to write your memoires, this would be a great place to keep the first edition.

Or, perhaps this toolbox would be perfect for holding memories in the form of old photographs instead.

I added a top coat of Rust-Oleum matte spray sealer both inside and out on this toolbox, and with that it was done.

This toolbox is for sale if you happen to be local, and in need of a stylish way to store your memoires.  Or your old photographs.  Or your art supplies, your hot glue gun, or the t.p. in your outhouse 😉

Be sure to check my ‘available for local sale‘ tab for more info.  Also, be sure to tune in tomorrow for another segment of toolbox week!

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.

Speaking of yellow flowers (which I did in this past Sunday’s garden post), not only do I not typically plant them in my garden, I also don’t usually gravitate towards them for my toolbox makeovers.

One exception was the tackle box I did back in May using just the yellow roses from I.O.D.’s Botanical Roses.

In all honesty, I only did that because at the time I only had a bunch of yellow roses left over and I wanted to use them on something.

Another exception would be the Fresh as a Daisy lockbox that I did back in 2024.

Usually I lean more towards pretty pink florals though.

But I recently ordered the I.O.D. Sarah Featon’s Botanicals transfer, and as it turns out it features quite a few flowers with yellow in them, so once again I found myself using yellow flowers.

Let’s start with a before photo of the toolbox in question.

This was one of my finds at the South St. Paul city wide garage sales.

It was in pretty rough shape with plenty of dirt and some rust.  I began by using a razor blade to remove that “Craftsman’ label which was basically just a decal.  I then gave it a good scrub with some Dawn dish soap.  After using a hammer to pound out a couple of dents, I used 150 grit sandpaper and my Mouse sander to give it a good once over.  I then rinsed it off with the garden hose and left it to dry.

Once dry I gave it two coats of Rust-Oleum’s spray satin sealer.  This seems to work just as well as the Dixie Belle Bonding Boss that I usually use, but it’s much quicker.  Plus, I accidentally bought three cans of the stuff in the satin sheen by mistake (I meant to buy the matte version) and I was too lazy to return them.  So now I want to use them up.

Next up, I painted the interior in Dixie Belle’s Holy Guacamole.

This color is the perfect 70’s avocado green and I tend to use it a lot inside my toolboxes.

Next I painted the exterior of the toolbox in Dixie Belle’s Ecru.  This color is from their new Southern Roots collection and is a lovely very warm, nearly beige, white.

Then I pulled out that Sarah Featon’s Botanicals transfer and started adding florals.

I started with a couple of the larger ones, and then used smaller ones to fill in.

The transfer set does have flowers in other colors, but I chose to stick with mainly yellow and white, with just a little bit of pink.

Finally I pulled out the typography from an old re.design with prima transfer called Seeds.  One of my readers sent this to me a while back, thanks again for that Monica.

It just happened to fit perfectly across the toolbox.

As one final touch, I added a butterfly from the I.O.D. Saint Germain transfer.

He had the perfect coloring to work with the Sarah Featon’s Botanicals.

I finished off the exterior of the toolbox with some of Dixie Belle’s clear wax, and I used their flat clear coat to protect the Holy Guacamole interior.

This toolbox is for sale locally, so be sure to check my ‘available for local sale‘ page for more details.

I’ve got another toolbox from the stash to share today.

First up, I have to admit that I don’t love working with these newer, shinier toolboxes.  Especially when they are red.  That red is going to show when I distress the edges (although after finishing this one I did come up with an idea for the next one that I will report back on when I try it).

That being said, I really like the shape of this one, and the price was right so I went for it.

I started by removing that ‘BISON’ label.  It was made of metal and I was able to pry it off fairly easily.  I then gave the toolbox a good cleaning with hot water and Dawn dish soap.

I followed that up with a coat of Dixie Belle’s clear Bonding Boss.  I didn’t need to block any rust stains this time around, but I did want to improve the adhesion of my paint over that slick, shiny surface.

Next up I added two coats of Dixie Belle’s Apricot inside and out … and I forgot to mention … this one has a tray, so I gave that the same treatment.

Once the paint was dry, I pulled out one of I.O.D.’s newest transfers called Saint Germain.  It has the most gorgeous florals in lovely rich colors.

I wrapped the florals around both sides of the toolbox …

as well as up and over that top.

Once all of the florals were in place, I pulled out the I.O.D. Floriography paint inlay and chose a few things to layer over them.

You may be wondering how to apply a paint inlay over a transfer, since typically you have to apply it to wet paint.  The trick is to apply the inlay into a wet clear topcoat instead.  In this case, I used Dixie Belle’s flat clear coat.  I’ve been doing a little experimenting with this and so far it’s working out beautifully.

I also added a paint inlay to the inner lid of this toolbox by applying it into wet paint (see this post for full instructions on applying a paint inlay).

I finished off the embellishments with one more paint inlay on the top of the box.

To avoid smearing any of my paint inlays, I gave the toolbox a final top coat using Rust-Oleum matte spray sealer.

Oftentimes people ask me what in the world do people do with these dressed up toolboxes?  My standard response is that they can use them to hold art supplies, which is what I use most of mine for.  Or, you could store your old photographs in it.  Some people use them to hold sewing or knitting supplies.

Of course, you could keep your gardening tools in this one.

But last week I sold the ‘rusty crustiest’ toolbox to Ellie and she intends to use that one in a totally unique way.  She’s going to put it in the outhouse up at the cabin!  It will be perfect for keeping the extra t.p. dry, and she can also add in a can of air freshener and some hand sanitizer.  I absolutely love that she’s doing that, and that toolbox with its array of bugs and wildflowers is perfectly themed for an outhouse in the woods.

She has promised to send me a photo of it when it’s in place, so I’ll be sure to share that with you guys too!

And now that I think about it, today’s toolbox with its ‘toilet soaps’ wording would also be perfect in a bathroom!

This toolbox is for sale locally, so be sure to 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.

I’ve been scoring a lot of toolboxes lately.  I seem to be finding them at nearly every garage sale.  Last week my friend Sue texted me on a Tuesday to let me know that there were a couple of toolboxes at a garage sale just down the road from me.

A garage sale on a Tuesday?  Weird, right?  I guess any day is a good day for a garage sale now.  Anyway, I popped over there and brought home these two toolboxes.

Meanwhile, I also had these toolboxes from a previous garage sale day.

Plus I still have a couple that I acquired over the winter including this black one.

So, some toolbox makeovers were definitely at the top of my to-do list this week.

I decided to start with the rusty crustiest one.

I also decided to try a little different prep this time around to see how it worked.  I started by giving the toolbox a good scrub with hot water and Dawn dish soap.  Next I sanded it inside and out with my Mouse sander.  My goal with the sanding is to knock down the texture of the rust a bit, but I don’t go so far as to sand all of the rust away by any means.

Then after another good cleaning to remove any loose dust, I gave it a couple of coats of Rust-Oleum satin clear coat.

Here’s a look at the result.

And here’s the inside.

My goal was to see if this would work just as well as the Dixie Belle Bonding Boss that I usually use to prep my toolboxes.

Next up I painted the inside of the box in Dixie Belle’s Cactus Silk Paint.

The Silk Paint line is an acrylic paint with a primer and top coat built in.  So two coats of Cactus and the inside was done.  No need to add another top coat.

Next up I painted the outside of the box in one of the colors from Dixie Belle’s new Southern Roots collection called Ecru.

How can I describe this color?  A very warm white?  A less yellow cream?  A pale beige?  It’s something like that.

As you can see above, I then added some lovely florals from the I.O.D. Wilde Bloemen transfer, wrapping the florals up and onto the top of the box.

The little daisy below is my favorite!

I also added a few moths, butterflies, dragonflies and bugs.  Not to mention a frog or two around the sides.

All of these elements from nature made this toolbox perfect for some typography from the I.O.D. Label Ephemera transfer.

If I was a naturalist, I’d certainly love to keep my tools in this toolbox.

Wouldn’t you?

Although I have to admit, I’m not sure what those tools would be.  Certainly some binoculars, and maybe a magnifying glass or two.

As for my experiment using a spray sealer rather than the Bonding Boss, I think it worked out just fine.  The benefit of using the spray is that it’s a bit faster and easier to spray something like a toolbox rather than applying Bonding Boss with a brush.  On the downside, there is a good chunk of the year here in Minnesota when I can’t really use spray paint because I don’t have a heated workshop.  In addition, if you’re painting a lot of toolboxes (which I seem to be), it’s definitely more cost effective to use the Bonding Boss.  But either one of these options might work for you.

This toolbox 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.

Remember the box I picked up while garage saling recently?

I’m not sure what this box was originally intended for.  It definitely looks homemade, so I assume it was made to hold something specific but it was empty when I purchased it.

I know the wood grain looks pretty in that ‘before’ photo, but it was damaged on the top of the box.  But honestly, even if it hadn’t been damaged I still would have painted it.  Painted boxes sell for me, wood boxes don’t.

I started with the inside of the box by painting it with two coats of Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth.  I then applied one of I.O.D.’s paint inlays into the 2nd wet coat of the Drop Cloth (you can find full instructions for applying the paint inlays here).

Isn’t that pretty?  That is from the new I.O.D. Floriography paint inlay.  You’re going to see a bit of that one in upcoming projects because I absolutely love it.  Now, do I wish it was a transfer rather than a paint inlay?  You betcha.  If only.

When I ordered the Floriography inlay and a couple of other I.O.D. items from The Painted Heirloom recently, I needed to spend $5 more to get free shipping.  So I decided to add a sample size packet of Sweet Pickins Milk Paint for just $7.

I chose a coral/pink color called Corabelle.

I have to admit, this color totally reminds me of Calamine lotion, and thus a really bad case of poison ivy that I had when I was younger.  Nonetheless, I think it’s a very pretty color.

I mixed up just half of the sample (half powder to half water) and it was plenty for two coats on the outside of this box.

I wanted to try a technique that I’ve seen Yvonne on Ginger Chick Rehab (on YouTube) use to get a lot of crackling with milk paint.  Basically you spray seal your piece first with some kind of sealer.  I believe Yvonne typically uses a spray shellac, but I used the Rust-Oleum matte clear spray on my box.  Next you brush on your milk paint and then add heat to dry it.  I used an old hair dryer for that (I think Yvonne uses a heat gun).  I’m not sure if you really have to add heat to both coats of paint, you may be able to get away with just heating the final coat, but I did both just in case.

It worked beautifully.

See that crackle?

Once dry, I sanded lightly to distress the edges and remove any loose chippy paint.  There wasn’t much, but a little here and there.  Then, and this is important if you’re going to add transfers, I gave it another coat of the matte spray sealer.  That makes sure that your paint is sealed in place and won’t lift up with the transfer.

As you can see, I went back to the I.O.D. Rose Botanical transfer for the florals and my old standby Label Ephemera for the typography on this box (yes, sadly, Label Ephemera has been retired for some time now and is difficult to come by).

I think it’s a little difficult to tell the size of this box by looking at these photos, but it’s 16.25″ wide, 8.5″ deep and 6″ tall so you could fill it up with all sorts of different things!

This box is for sale locally so be sure to check out my ‘available for local sale‘ page for more details.