Cutlery Boxes made into Sewing Boxes or whatever!

Hello Everyone!

 

Today I am talking about Cutlery Boxes.

We have all seen them, used them and

then disposed of them when we finish of them.

Because basically

our styles change or we just tire of

them. Or maybe they broke.

 

Well, these are nice sized boxes. I took

the pictures of these wooden boxes

back in 2009 with the intention of making

something out of them back then. I completely forgot

about these boxes until about a month

ago when I found them again. Anything

can get lost at my house.

 

You can make these boxes into anything

you desire. I happen to love sewing boxes,

thread boxes, any kind of a box really.

These boxes can be purchased at thrift

stores or perhaps you already have

1 or 2 of them hanging around in your

attic. Oh, another thing - some of

these boxes have a cardboard bottom.

That is okay, some boxes are all

cardboard.

Should you get one of these boxes

just be careful when you paint or

strip stain from the bottom of the box

because
of the cardboard. Some of these cutlery boxes

are stained in nice colors.

I have 3 of these cutlery boxes and 2 of

them have cardboard bottoms.

No biggy!

 

The pictures you see is one of these

cutlery boxes made into a sewing

box. I made this Shabby Chic box for my

friend Catherine. I made it so she

could put it beside her sewing machine and her

Serger machine to hold scissors, threads, pincushions.

These things would be within arms reach and hopefully

would look nice on her table. But really, Catherine, you

can use this box for whatever your heart desires.

You should be

receiving it soon. This is part of her surprise.

I did put other things in the box for her, that I

am not showing, hope she likes it all!

 

So - now start looking at those

cutlery boxes!!!

 

 These cutlery boxes are about 14 to 15 inches wide,

10.5 inches long and 3 inches deep. Both are different

colors. The top one is a reddish color while the bottom

one is an old brown color. My 3rd box not pictured here

is a pretty brown. All of these boxes will be painted or

papered inside and out.

 

Look inside of these boxes and strip out all of the

dividers and or felt that you see. Clean her up!

 

I have painted this one white with ordinary craft

paint.

 

Here is the front of Catherine's box. I used empty

thread spools for the feet. I wrapped white lace

around each spool and topped it off with some sheer

pink ribbon. The box is papered with

shabby chic scrapbook paper that I downloaded

from the internet.  This paper is so pretty! It is one

of my favorites.  The good thing about having

feet on this box is that it gives her a place to store

some cross stitch leaflets for future projects. Or she

can store her sewing machine books there.  I glued

a cute pink sheer ribbon with a ribbon rose in the

indention of the box on the front.

 

To decorate the top of the box -

First, I glued down

another shabby chic paper and trimmed it with lace.

I put 4 pink sheer bows at each corner.

Second, I dyed some cheesecloth with

Kool-aid in pink and blue, mixed in some

white cheesecloth and glued it to the top of the box. 

Third, I used 2 cream colored cherubs that hang

on the wall! Included with them was the pretty

flowers that you see here. They are so

sweet but a little heavy. They are glued down good, but

still be careful when opening the box.

Fourth, after letting the cherubs dry and that took

about 4 days to do so. I then added some craft pearls and

bunched up the cheesecloth around the cute cherubs.

I also added little pieces of cheesecloth here and

there between the flowers.

The pink sheer bow you see has a white button in the

middle of it. 

I cannot even begin to tell you how

pretty the top of the box is. It turned out lovely. I am

pleased with the overall look of it.

 

Here is the left side of the box.

 

I thought that this was the right side - but it is not.

I must have thought that I was looking at the right

side. Sorry.

 

Here is the back of the box where the hinges are.

 

This is what the inside of the box looks like. Catherine

loves pink, white and red. I did not use anything that

was red. I used a pink flannel to

line the box and then put lace around the sides

on the top of the lid and the sides of the bottom half

of the box. All of the lace inside and outside of the

box are the same lace.

 

I glued on white pockets from Aida cloth and

glued on sheer pink bows. These pockets are a

little tight. I forgot to give each one a little slack,

so please be careful if you put something in them.

In one of the pockets I gave her a cherub magnetic

needle holder for her cross stitch.

 

We cut some pretty bright white string. My hubby

screwed each string into the box on each side

so the lid could stay up and the box not topple

over because of the weight of the cherubs.

I gave her some surprises on the inside of

the box which I hope she likes!

Have a lot of fun!!

Thank you for visiting me.

Conny

 



Remember the Country Sampler

that I showed you a couple of postings ago.

Well, I did get the nerve to do what I wanted

to do with it. See, when I saw that Sampler -

my eyes saw alot of things! Ah - it took all

my strength to cut it! But let me tell you that I

am glad that I did it. If you decide to do

something like this make sure that you know

what you want to do with it so you do not

waste any part of that sampler. After all you

worked hard on it. I knew what I wanted

to make out of all of it but in the end the last

piece did not work out like I thought it would.

So I took that little piece & basically

stuck it to the inside of the fabric basket with

pins. When I do figure out what I want

to do with that piece then its still

there in the basket for when I need it.

This is what I saw out of that sampler.

I saw a nice pincushion just from the

center piece. It is backed with

soft red flannel. I could have used

matching thread but I didnt want

to. I zig-zagged all around the piece.

Talk about easy to stuff!

The sampler has greens, pinks,

yellow golds, purple & white. So

any color to stitch would be fine, plus

it helped give me the country effect

that I was after.

Pastel baby buttons of all colors

works very well embellishing it.

I was able to get 2 twin scissor cases.

Each of these pieces were on the left &

right sides of the centerpiece.

Here is the other twin

scissor case. Its identical,

except the button colors

differ. I have plenty of these

little buttons.

This is a little piece

that I wanted to wrap

around a small wooden

spool. Yea, I had planned

this also. It is a

bottlecap pincushion.

The bottlecap pincushion

has baby buttons around

the edges & a couple of

buttons going down the

one side of it.

It has the baby buttons

going around the top also.

And my small embroidery

scissors needed a wooden spool

to hold it. Yep I had planned

also to cover one of these large wooden

spools. The little design was only

about a half inch short of the wooden

spool but I knew that. Because I

had measured it before I even cut it.

I had to decide how I was going to

take care of that problem before I

cut any of the sampler.

Here is the photo going the

entire way around the spool.

The 3 dolls in the wagon was

so cute.

Here is some more of that

cute little design.

See how I attached it. All I did

was sew the little cross stitch

design onto some red flannel.

Then to finish it - I glued it

together. No, the glue is only

on the red flannel - not the wooden

spool. Then I embellished it with

2 cute little blue heart buttons.

Just to give that country touch.

So, this is what it looked like.

And to further country-fi it, if

you look at the first photo you will

see that I popped on a piece of red

flannel with a small green crochet

to top it off. Hope you like the little

scissor fob. This fob has now been

changed because I was able to get

4 scissor fobs out of that sampler.

The little rabbit fob & the little

pie are on the large scissors that

are in the scissor cases. These are

lightly stuffed. Since this photo was

taken, this little scissor fob was taken

off & the little house fob was put on.

It also was lightly stuffed.

This little heart fob is the

only fob left that is not

on a pair of scissors. I might

find a use for it later. It is

not stuffed. I think I like

the stuffed better. So if you

do this - lightly stuff your fobs.

Well, I didnt stop there. I had

to take it further. I had another

small 4 inch doily so I decided

to make me one of those

pincushion-needleminders. The

top is the pincushion. It holds a

little pink heart to keep in with the

country theme.

And just under the coat button is the

magnet for the needleminder.
And no - I didnt make a biscornu

for this set!

I had some small threads so

I placed them in a bag & glued

on just a couple of buttons. I didnt

want to go overboard with them.

Maybe it could use a few more buttons

but I am happy with just a couple

on it.

Well, as you can see I didnt stop

there! I threaded 6 little thread spools

onto some small chocolate brown

rick-rack. And I tied the rick-rack

onto those bows. All 4 sides of this

fabric basket are done this way.

Below is another photo of the

inside of the basket.

The last photo shows you the only

little piece that I have left. The

cow is pin stuck onto the basket.

If you have cross stitch that

you are no longer using or you

have outgrown it. Think about

cutting it. It is better to use it

then not. Yea sure its gonna hurt

your feelings but you will be able

to look at it every day & enjoy

a piece of your heart - that is

after you get over the fear of

FIRST CUTTING IT! That is

the hardest part of it all!

I have just now realized that the

little basket does not have a needlebk

so I guess that little leftover piece will

come in handy for that. I will leave

it there & just stick the needles to it.

Maybe I will glue a magnet underneath

the cow to hold those needles!

Keep stitching!

by Hopblogger

And the Winner is....

Marlene!

Hubby is out of town so I had

to do it myself. I picked one with my

eyes shut.

Email me your address so

I can snail mail it to ya.

by Hopblogger

What is a needle worker to do?

Making needle minders are so addictive! Just thought

that I would show you some more that I made.

Thanks for visiting!

Take care & have a nice weekend.

by Hopblogger

Minding the needle

I am so excited! Needle Minders can be made

in a matter of a minute. There are no boundaries

in the creativity that you have. Take a look at mine. All of

them work very well. They costed me about 2 to 2.50 each

that is except for the bee. He was an extravagant piece that

I just had to possess. The blue lady which is a small piece of

Toile is reversible. The other side is a different fabric - with navy blue. The

rose one is also reversible but with the same fabric. Look - no magnet

thats because the magnet is hid on the inside.

I absolutely LOVE

the green ones. They are my favorites. My needle stands straight

up in the holes & I can

put multiple needles on them if I wish.

Dont be afraid of making them - they are easy. Anyone who sews

could use a needle minder - even a quilter. It will work very well if you

quilt on a frame or in a hoop. Thread a few needles &

let it hold them until you are ready to use each one.

You will be able to quilt faster. I could have used one of

these things years, years ago. Hey, do you think

that this could replace a needlebook?

Thanks for visiting me! Come again soon.

by Hopblogger