Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Big Girls Don't Cry

But this big girl has year-round allergies. Doesn't help that I have been battling a persistant sinus infection for 11 months now so I buy a lot of tissues and I leave a box in my living room for quick access.

I get the larger boxes of tissues because you get more tissues for your money. Also, for even better savings I get the Kroger brand tissues or I find them at Dollar Tree. The thing is, I am not a fan of the designs on tissue boxes at all. Some people think I am a bit overly anal because of this but when I display them in my living room I prefer to have tissue boxes covered. I've been painting the boxes with black acrylic craft paint but that gets old. I had gotten a cover from Hobby Lobby for $4 so at least it was covered but plain balsa wood doesn't do it for me either.

The other day I picked up wood pieces from HL and later realized I didn't have decent glue so I picked up some Elmer's wood glue at Target since I had to make a trip there anyway.

Several months back I ran across this Mod Tissue Box Cover project on Crafty Nest. While my home is not "mod" I do like simple lines and understated pieces. I present you with my interpretation of her project:





I like it despite its flaws and I am always proud of my small accomplishments now because so much of my life had centered around alcohol. I always had intentions of doing things like this but rarely did. In addition, I had a lot of unfinished projects and while my ADD is mostly to blame, the alcohol made it much more difficult to just get things done.

Anyhow, a few pointers on this project:

* Sand your project even if it "feels" okay. Basic acrylic craft paint will highlight the grain if not very well sanded. I didn't do it and in hindsight I wish I had.

* In this project, choose your balsa wood cut-outs carefully. Paint will show flaws and the glue did warp the wood a bit.

* Carefully measure if you are particular about this kind of thing, I am. I know the flaws and it bugs me.

* After gluing the parts together (I applied the wood glue with a paintbrush on both surfaces), let it set up a bit before you weight it down. I didn't on the end side and the last two pieces shifted so they are off from their original marks.

Over all, I rate this super simple and a pretty cheap project. Had I already had the glue, the total cost with the box and the packet of wood pieces (paint was 99¢ but already had some, used about half a 2 oz bottle) was $6.33 before taxes. I'd say for a custom piece, that's a bargain...

I can see this done in many different ways for baby's rooms, kid's rooms, offices, etc. Heck, this would be a good house warming gift if you know your friend's or relative's decor.

When I went to Hobby Lobby to pick up the wood cutouts, they had 50% off all their candles and candle holders (that was this week so go get em while they're cheap). I picked up a simple votive holder from the candle making isle for $1.34! Sometimes you just need to slowly browse HL to see things that are a bit hidden. I mean, I had no intention of making any candles yet I saw it and saw in my mind a different application:



I already had the votives and the sand. I think it was actually meant to pour your own candle wax and put several wicks in it:


(not the best pics, they really do look better in person)

I love to have nice smelling candles lit so having an inexpensive (frugal/cheap) way to display them is a great thing.

Wow, Wednesday already? Hope everyone is having a fine week!

EDIT Wed. 8:32 pm: Though it's not Thursday yet, hop on over to The Shabby Chic Cottage for Gina's Transformation Thursday. Keep checking back through tomorrow as there are usually a ton of fun projects to see.

I hope my tissue box cover follows in the guidelines of a transformation. I didn't take any before pics but I could take a pic of the box of tissues with black craft paint on it. ;-) I don't think that's needed.

Also, while you are there, please lend her some support as her mother-in-law is in ICU.

EDIT Sat. 10-17 12:50 pm: I love her blog, she has so much my style so check it out: Funky Junk Interiors - "Saturday Nite Special" Lots of new and old DIY projects. Fun stuff!

8 comments:

  1. Neat project............but I wanted to comment about your sinus infection. Ive suffered with chronic sinus infections and migraines for 13 years! Recently, through a series of events, and a sleugh of doctor visits with every specialist known to man, they FINALLY figured out what was causing my problem. The root in one of my molars had poked in to my sinus!! A few dental visits and oral surgeries, and I'm now sinus infection and migraine free! My dentist found the problem when he told me to bring my head MRI films to him to look at. Even the neurologist didn't catch it. Neither did the ENT doctor.

    Long story short, go talk to your dentist. If you can't find a good one, let me know. I'm down in Highlands Ranch, so I can refer you to one down here. Don't settle for what they tell you. Demand that they look futher. Just an FYI, all of my doctors told me I had food and environmental allergies, but since I've had the teeth fixed ( less than a month ago), I haven't had one single issue, which is unheard of for me.

    Take care of yourself.

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  2. Polly, thanks for stopping by and more importantly, thanks for the information!

    I'd have to go back through my journal for the time frame (two years ago?) but oddly enough I am having deterioration on that same side on the back molar. Though it doesn't hurt anymore the dentist said at some point he may want me to see an oral surgeon to have it removed. He was thinking more along the lines of 10 years though.

    But heck, if that's the cause I better hurry up and find a job so I can get health insurance of some kind. I've got a great dentist and a well connected family down here in the Springs so finding a good oral surgeon wont be hard to deal with.

    Wow, thank you so much!

    Also, good to see a fellow Coloradan (the new one is "Coloradoan" but I am old school) amongst the home decor, DIY and such blogs. I've only run across a few around here.

    Hope you have a great Thursday and it should be a fine one to enjoy our beautiful Colorado sunshine.

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  3. I'm not usually into that style either but I am really loving that! Excellent.

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  4. Hi Lisa - your blog is one that I check on my daily blog cruise so it's nice to see you here. Great to see another Colorado person here and commenting on the same post, right on!

    I was a bit skeptical on the "mod" part of it but it sure beat leaving it blank/solid color and it doesn't look mod in my living at all - in part I think because I used a flat color (no gloss to it at all). It doesn't look "craft mall country" which is a huge bonus and using that yellow is toning down the oranges in here a bit while keeping some color.

    I highly recommend that project.

    Thanks for compliment too.

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  5. Very nice. There are a lot of allergies and tissues around my house too, now I know how to cover them! Best wishes and prayers with continuing your journey to make life better.
    teri @ acraftyclan.blogspot.com

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  6. Hi Teri - thanks for stopping on by!

    Hope it's a project you can use. It's inexpensive enough that people could make several to swap out for the year - holidays, summer, fall, winter, etc.

    Thanks for the wishes and prayers. Much appreciated. Life is full of surprises but not too bad at all.

    Thanks again.

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  7. What a fabulous idea! I honestly said WOW outloud when I saw the tissue box. It's really chic!

    I'm so stylish I run for the toilet paper roll here.. :P

    Thanks for linking to the party! And best wishes on your new life journey. Creating things seems to be a good calling for you. Don't stop!

    Funky Junk Donna

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  8. Hey Donna, thanks for dropping by and thanks for hosting the link party. I really like to see other people's handywork and creativity.

    Who knew that a tissue box cover could be so stylish yet understated? I've never seen a pre-made one that I like so when I ran across that tut, I immediately bookmarked it.

    I've always been a creative and crafty person but fell out of my creativity with my hands when I started designing web sites then the alcohol. I am enjoying the process again.

    Thanks again for stopping by and have a fabulous week ahead!

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