The Little Blue Box - Quick & Easy

I love the distressed look!

This was my first “reclaimed” project.  I found this kind of beat up, dirty, little wooden box 8"x5"x12" and immediately got a visual picture in my mind of it being used as a cute container to store or display things.  

A good power washing left it nice and clean and I decided to leave the nails sticking out of the top to give it some character.

DIY tip:  If you're going to power wash anything wooden, be sure to let it dry a couple of days before sanding, paintng, or staining.

Next I gave it a coat of a pretty, turquoise blue paint and let it dry for 24 hours.  Latex paint actually dries quicker than this but I like to make sure it’s  really dry before glazing.

To achieve the aged look, I dipped a clean, cotton cloth into my can of Olympic Burned Raisin color glaze and working in small sections, used long, wiping strokes to apply a thin coat of glaze. I immediately wiped off just the excess glaze with a clean, damp cloth.  Take off as much as you want to achieve the look you like.  I let the glaze color pool a bit more in the corner sections, on the edges, and around the nail heads to give it a more aged look.

Oh, and be sure to wear rubber gloves for this step :)

After the glaze dried for 24 hours I used a fine grade sand paper to sand the areas I wanted to look distressed.  Not too much, just until the wood showed through.

Hmm, I liked the box but was thinking

 it needed a little PIZZAZZ!  

Luckily, I found a medium sized glass door knob

in my stash and chose a big, shiny 

silver bolt to secure it.  

Wow! This was exactly what it needed!

Here’s the completed Little Blue Box.  

How cute is this?!

This was a fun and easy project

 that a beginning DIY'er could do.

Well, off to work on another project. . .

My gate is always open, Jeri

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