About
I was walking through my favourite thrift store several years ago, drooling over the wooden jewellery boxes on the shelf. I had my own jewellery box at home, and really didn't need another. I don't even wear that much jewellery. But I really wanted those boxes.
I went home and forgot about it for a few days, but in the back of my mind I was still thinking about how to get those little boxes into my home. Finally, I struck upon an idea. I could paint them! I never really painted much before, but I was itching for a new project and figured I had nothing to lose. So I picked up a few for a couple of dollars each and took them home.
Thus began a year long quest to find and paint more jewellery boxes, each one different and special. I had family members giving me some well-loved hand me downs. I scoured my local craft store, using coupons to get the expensive chalk paint I had my eye on. I bought stencils and fabric. I even did a commission for a friend, updating her grandmother's jewellery box for her daughter. Finally, my husband noticed that all these boxes were taking over our home office.
That's where this adventure started, and now it's time to pass my pretty items on to you! I'm always working on a new project, and not just jewellery boxes, so check back often for my latest creation!
My first attempt
Crafts. Crafts Everywhere.
Once I realized that I could transform pieces with a little paint and imagination I just couldn't stop. I picked up other wooden items to paint, like paper holders and trays. I bought laser-cut wooden shapes to glue onto my boxes. I got my dad to cut me blocks of wood to paint. And then my sister told me she had learned how to crochet.
She was coming for a visit a few months from then, and she would teach me how to do it. I was pumped! She had taught herself using YouTube videos, so I figured I could start the same way and then she could teach me more when she arrived.
I will never forget the great surge of pride I felt when I made my first crocheted piece. I had tried and failed to knit so many times, and here on my first attempt at crocheting I had made a thing! I was hooked (pun totally intended). And I didn't even care that it was a hot mess.
Well, we never had time to work on crochet while they were here (something about having three little boys between us, running around and destroying things) but I already had the basics anyway. Now we send each other photos of our projects. She makes hats and shawls. I stick more to snowflakes, baby blankets, toy vegetables, and amigurumi (stuffed animals).
A Little Bit About Me
"Please help me get my home office back. It's overrun with jewellery boxes."
- My Husband
My creative pursuits extend beyond wood and wool crafts. I also enjoy creative writing, dabbling in children's literature and poetry, young adult literature, and chick lit. I also have a degree in English Lit, and am a former high school supply teacher, turned stay-at-home mom.
I've always been a crafter. As a kid I was a Girl Guide, and with my mom as a leader I also had her fun ideas and activities at home. During my university days I volunteered as a Guide Leader myself, which I did for many years. I was constantly on the search for fun crafts to do with the girls, and I always wanted to craft along with them.
