diy {Our Summer Box}

June 29, 2011

Right now my kids are young…in a few years they will be preteens…then teenagers…then young adults…and then they might be parents. I imagine our summers will change over the years, but there are some favorite things that will repeat year after year. I’ve always enjoyed the perspective that looking back provides. I don’t want to go back to the past, but I like being reminded of the good times. I don’t have time to journal like I did growing up, so I improvise. This summer I thought I’d start “Our Summer Box”. The box has categories pertaining to summer: Places, Recipes, Activities, Inside, Memories. I can add more as the years pass. As favorite things in each of those categories come to mind, I jot them down on an index card. Each summer it will be a box I can get out and record tidbits of our summers together…and see how things stay the same and change.

I found a old filing box at a flea market for $1.00, but you could use any type of box.

I wanted to give my box a summer feel without being too over the top, so I did simple beach stripes.

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Supplies:

Wood box (found at a flea market)

Painter’s Tape

White Paint, Indian Turquoise paint (Americana brand)

DecoArt Triple Thick Brilliant Gloss Glaze (this stuff is awesome, it is like a thick spray on poly coat)

Sanding block

Notecards, divider cards

My original box

Painters tape is an inch wide, so I did 1 inch stripes (go for the path of least resistance!). I measured back how far I wanted my stripes, then marked it with a strip of tape.

Next I sanded down the area to be painted and began painting the whole area white.

After a few coats of white, I taped off stripes. I used a small piece of tape to help me keep the stripes an inch apart. Then added a few coats of the turquoise. I did wiggle the box a bit to keep the paint from sealing it shut.