I know, people are always saying they made a thing, but this time I really did. If I had a decent camera I'd post pictures, and possibly I can get some, given a bit of time. As it is, I can post the box I started out with.
As you can see, it's really more of a crate:
....which occasionally comes with a helpful cat attached:
It moved around in our various living spaces, but mostly my ex claimed it for his den. Sometimes it held books, sometimes it lay upside down or on one side like a coffee table, other times it stood on end like it is in the bottom two pictures which made a convenient place for a coffee cup where the cat is sitting. When my ex moved out, he took it with him. And a couple years ago he was downsizing his possessions and asked if I wanted it back. Of course I did! It's a way cool frapped box!
By then I was just getting into steampunk and I had this idea of steampunking it out, only I wasn't quite sure what to do with it. I took these pictures then, planning to put them up on Facebook and ask for ideas, and then never got around to it. The box sat in my basement since then.
Some months later I ran into some really cool printed burlap at Hobby Lobby. (Gah, I know -- Hobby Lobby. My political rants are on my other blog, on WordPress, so I won't start here, just know that I try to avoid Hobby Lobby whenever possible. But it's easier to shop for some things in person, not on the internet, and Hobby Lobby is both the largest crafts store in our area and has the deepest and widest selection of steampunk style merchandise, so occasionally I compromise with my conscience and give in and shop there. -- Now to get back to the burlap.....) It had the Eiffel Tower, and French postmarks and stamps, along with fleur-de-lis and other miscellaneous vintage markings and typestyles. All it all, it was pretty awesome, but it was also a bit spendy -- not too bad, but enough to make me think it over for a while.
....Which turned out to be a good thing, because it went on clearance, and the price cut in half. And by this time I'd had time for ideas to perk around in the back of my head when I wasn't thinking about them and I'd come up with the plan of gluing the burlap to the inside of the box. I wasn't sure how much I needed, but there was a bolt with a lot, and a different bolt with just the last tiny bit, less than two yards. I ended up buying what was left on the tiny bolt. I think it was too small an amount for them to cut up if I bought only a yard and a half -- they would have been left with less than half a yard -- so they just measured it out and sold me the entire end piece. More than enough to cover the inside of the box.
........And then there it sat for most of a year while I ignored it. I thought about it now and then, tried to figure out whether I should put legs under the box, tried to figure out what kind, how tall, what was available, occasionally tried pricing things online, occasionally looked for legs or wheels or something in second-hand stores. But mostly I ignored it. Cast iron legs cost -- well, an arm and a leg -- both arms and legs, really -- $70 on up to $170, gah! Finding things in second-hands just didn't happen. My favorite antique store had the occasional set of wheels, and would have a set of -- three? or two? Yeah, that was unhelpful. And then one day I found a very nice set of four small brass mounted black wheels for under $10, so I bought those, stuck them on a shelf, and ignored it some more. For months.
And then a week ago I was talking to my counselor about how I have projects I want to do and can't seem to finish because I can't get started because it all seems overwhelming. We discussed how maybe part of the secret is to break them down into smaller parts. Like this box -- I have all the parts for it, so maybe instead of thinking about doing the entire box, I need to think of doing just one part of it. Figure out how to cut and glue the material, and worry about the rest later.
Yeah, I could do that.
Pictures to come.......
