Old Made New

Last year, Shan rescued an old toy box from a garage sale for $1. It was one the woman's father had made for her and her brother twenty plus years ago. Now, I don't think I would sell something like that. I would get rid of a lot of clutter before I got rid of something my father made me. That is me though. My dad died almost 10 years ago, so I might be a little attached.


We we brought it home, I wondered why. It was ugly. They had a plywood box that had been decorated with spray painted effects and very dated artwork. It was also filthy, and part of the wood had been split off.


Shan filled in the low spots and sanded it down. He gave it two coats of bright white paint. It is clean and pretty. I bought stencils and three sets of paint. This week I painted butterflies and flowers on the lid, in pastel colors. I painted bright butterflies on the front and jewel toned flowers and butterflies on the ends. Yesterday, I trimmed the edges in a deep purple color that I had left from the chair rail in the family room. Today, I finished my project by making name stencils using my ellison die press machine, and painted the girls names on the front back. So now, something dirty and looking ready for the trash, is pretty, functional. Shan wanted to make something the girls could use for a long time. Maybe it will become one of those things they want to keep even after their toys have long since passed from usefulness.