On My Soapbox

Remember this? I finally finished the second soapbox for my knitting supplies. It shouldn't have taken me so long, but I kept forgetting to work on it. It didn't come out exactly as I'd planned, because the ink I used to stamp a background image of handwriting ran when I applied the varnish. This is only the third painted soapbox I've done, so I'm learning. In fact, I'm learning at about at the same rate as I'm working on these boxes. Which is approximately somewhere in the neighborhood of the velocity of molasses. In January.

I want to use this box to store all kinds of small knitting paraphenalia, like stitch markers, row counters, stitch holders, point protectors, and tapestry needles. So I made some dividers using my favorite craft item: milk cartons.


Here's how the inside looks now that it's finished. More Ethel Mertz than Martha Stewart, but then so is my life.



This was my fourth attempt at a painted soapbox. I didn't have purple paint, so I tried to mix my own, with less than gorgeous results. My original plan was to paint the box purple (I was planning to settle for lavender), then apply some crackle medium and a layer of white paint. The white paint would form cracks along the brush lines from the crackle medium, and the purple (lavender) would show through.


Sigh. As you can see, my brilliant plan lost something on the way to becoming reality. I must have used a type of paint that wasn't compatible with the crackle medium. When I saw this, I knew it was time for Plan B.


I think it came out well, considering how it started out. Good thing I had some pretty paper left over from a card I made for my sister last year, and some stickers. My MIL loves it, which is the main thing. I put her cupcake pincushion, some thread and a pair of scissors inside, and gave it to her this past Saturday.

And yes, we did change laundry soap brands. I still have some of the rectangular boxes, but many more of these. I've been thinking I could decorate them with themes, things that are important to me. I thought it would be fitting, considering that these are, after all, soapboxes.