Create a Mixed Media Box

Rituals and routines are important to me. Like visiting thrift stores on Thursday mornings and writing my “Morning Pages” while sipping a cup of tea each morning. For this Industrial Chic Blog Hop I wanted to create a mixed media box to hold my notebook(s) and pens for my morning pages.

(If you aren’t familiar with “Morning Pages” they are a part of “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron.)

The photo above is from one of my Thrift Store Haul posts. I enjoy the gardening books on my enclosed front porch and I also created a Recycled Tea Pot Wind Chime with the tea pot. Now it is time to put the box to good use.

I write my morning pages on these legal size pads. Yeah, I could use the regular yellow legal pads but there is something about the pink ones that make writing in the morning a little more special.

Anyway, for some reason when I was asked to be a part of the Industrial Chic Blog Hop several little puzzle pieces fell together in my head.

I love it when stuff like that happens, don’t you?

Rituals, routines, morning pages, legal pads, large thrifted boxes and new Industrial Chic elements ….

Look at the super cool goodies I got to play with. I was soooo happy when I got my package.

I love this little latch. The color, the detail and the faux patina all appealed to me.

So let me give you the run down on how I assembled this project.

The first thing to do is knock off the little wooden legs and small handle that was on the front of the lid. To do that I used a flat screwdriver placed against the part I wanted rid of and then gave it a little whack with a hammer. That’s all it took.

Sand the whole exterior of the box with a fine grit sandpaper. Give it a “dry brush” (load very little paint onto a wide brush and then wipe most of it off again with a rag before painting) with black acrylic paint and let it dry while rummaging for other goodies.

Once the paint was dry, I replaced the wooden feet with insulators for an electric fence I found as part of this Thrift Store Haul. I used E-6000 on the top of each insulator and placed them where I thought they looked best. Then, I weighted the whole box down with several heavy books and left the glue to dry over night.

For the top, and small section under the latch,  I applied paper from The Mariposa Stack from DCWV – I LOVE that paper stack – with rubber cement.

Then I used the new latch for the front. LOVE!

I created a composite flower from 3 roses and glued a cameo in the center.

(Composite flowers aren’t new around here kids. I made them here and here.)

I also added the back plate from an old match holder, a brass number plate, gold trim, an old ruler and vintage scrabble tiles.

The match holder back plate is cast iron so I knew I’d need something extra strong to hold it in place. I remembered these great Diamond Head Upholstery Tacks I got as a sample from Winter CHA.

Aren’t they supersparklycool?

I used one of the upholstery tacks at the top and one to hold on the brass number plate.  To get the tack into the wood I drilled a small pilot hole with my Fiskars Craft Drill in a hole that the match holder back already had in it. Then I folded a bit of fabric over the acrylic top to keep it from getting marred and then gave it a couple of taps with my small hammer. Perfect-o!

I used E-600o to glue that fabulous Industrial Chic lock to the match holder back.

I’m feeling like this mixed media box isn’t quite done yet but I’m not sure what to add. I’ve been cleaning and purging here in my studio so I may find other elements I want to add.

Or maybe  not.

Maybe I’ll be browsing through a thrift store and another find will jump into my hands so it can come home and be a part of this piece. Who knows?

Either way, my morning page notebooks and pens have a new home.

Not that I keep the notebooks forever. I burn them every once in a while. In the meantime though I have a special mixed media box to keep them in.

Tomorrow on the Industrial Chic Blog Hop Cindy Cima Edwards

You can read all about the Industrial Chic Blog Hop here!