Making a TARDIS Jewelry Box with Wood Panels

I haven't been posting lately because a.) I'm completely swamped with school and b.) all my craft time has been dedicated to a new custom order request. I'm pretty excited about this one and I'm sharing it with you today.

I apologize in advance, this is not a tutorial with the level of detail you might expect from my blog. Since I was trying out some new techniques, I decided to skip most of the step-by-step photos as they do take more time. Don't worry, though, I have learned a lot from this project and already have plans to ramp it up to the next level (more on that later).

TARDIS Jewelry Box with Wood Panels

Picking the Panel Materials

At first I thought I would be buying a thin sheet of balsa or other overlay wood and using a saw to meticulously cut the pieces down to size. Then I wandered over to the wood crafts section and discovered the myriad of precut wooden sticks available. Most are the same thickness. Check out the pics below for all the sizes.

And conveniently, the 2nd stick down in the top photo was the right width for the door panel crossbars. Voila!

Finding TARDIS Blue

Then it was on to picking the right TARDIS blue. I really loved the Americana True Blue I used for my other 2 TARDIS projects, but it didn't look right in pictures. I am thoroughly convinced TARDIS blue is the most difficult color to accurately photograph. I tried a couple of darker blues, but they looked too purple. Finally I decided to go back to True Blue and go for accuracy in person rather than in photos. When I walk in my friends' house, I can spot the TARDIS in the room almost immediately because the blue catches my eye. Next time (which I hope will be mine to keep), I want to try distressing the exterior like I did on the Distressed Gift Box.

Assembling the Panels

So here comes the tedious part. Basically, measure, cut, try it on the doors. Then get frustrated with the fit. Pry off half of what you put on. Cut new pieces. Accidentally crush a delicate window made of toothpicks. Re-glue tiny window. You get the idea. Spending hours fiddling with little pieces...and loving it (to quote Maxwell Smart).

Window and Door Assembly

The picture above shows the unpainted window mullions. To get them exactly right, I glued them directly onto the template I used for my cardstock panels. The assembly was very similar to the other two TARDIS projects which you can check out here or here.

Trim and Paint

If you look back to the various stick sizes photograph, you'll notice the longest sticks are pretty wide. In order to get the right length, I had to glue on extra and carefully trim it off. Then for some sanding and touch up painting (including the little narrow bits of the door panels). If you're wondering why there are white plastic toothpicks in the photo, I was thinking of using them for the window panels, but I couldn't get them to hold together and I fortunately found the wooden ones instead.

Interior

I didn't change much on the interior of this one from the other wooden one. In the photo below, the light bulb is jutting more in to the interior than it does in the final version.

Finishing Details

At this point, it was nearing completion and I was on a roll. So no pictures of the last few steps, sorry. I will tell you the drama of the light and casing, however. I had the auto bulb already, but had no idea how to adapt the casing from my previous TARDIS. On that one, I used a little bit of card stock to make a small box for it. For this one, I struggled for days trying to figure out how to replicate that one piece while making it sturdy enough to match the rest of the box. Then my sister came over to paint. She happened to have a mini canvas in her kit which I immediately seized. So that is what you see on the top of this TARDIS.

I also replaced the latch system. My other sister, who owns TARDIS 2, says the latch system on hers sticks and makes it hard to open. And by latch system, I mean a small piece of wood that holds the box shut with pressure. For this one, I upgraded the latch to a brass latch that matches the hinges. I also find some mini hooks which allowed me to put more hooks in the box (6 small rather than 2 large). With a box like this, some of the latch screws may poke in to the interior of the box. I used my trusty Dremel to file down the ends for safety and painted over them.

And without further ado, here it is! Okay, one more further ado. Remember my complaint about the color not photographing well? These pictures are all of the same box. That's what you get when you try to photograph something with a chameleon circuit, working or not.

The Door Panel

The Top

New Latch

The Back

The Interior

So What's Next?

Well, at the moment, house cleaning, home schooling, and completing my school projects. In terms of a TARDIS 4.0, doing one with a beacon that lights up, maybe adding the iconic sound when you open the door, installing glass in the windows and painting the back of the door panels like the back of the actual TARDIS doors, maybe making a plinth. Who knows? Coincidentally, all three of my TARDIS projects have been completed in April, so maybe by next April I'll have a TARDIS 4.0 tutorial up for you. Thanks for reading.

How to Make a Distressed Gift Box

So Here's the (Long) Story:

My friend recently completed a 30,000 word writing challenge. Since this was her first major writing project, I wanted to commemorate the occasion. I wanted to get her a fountain pen just like mine, but mine was no longer available with free shipping. In protest, I decided to buy a different pen. I ordered a pen and ink set that was supposed to come with a nifty suede roll to store the pen in. When it arrived, I was sadly disappointed. The suede was a sliver only large enough for the pen and a cartridge to sit on, not be rolled up in. The pen also looked cheap and was much lighter than I had expected. I sent it back and ordered a pen just like my favorite one. I expected it to come in a gift box like mine had. No such luck. It was sent very unceremoniously in a bubble mailer. A few days later we headed to the craft store for some art supplies. I found a cardboard necklace box for $1 that would have worked. Then I spotted this unpainted wooden box for $3.50. I decided that was the way to go.

How to Make a Distressed Gift Box

Here's What You'll Need:

• Unpainted wooden box (found mine for $3.50 at Michael's).
•  Acrylic paints:
• White
• Turquoise
• Brown and/or Black

• Sandpaper
• Screwdriver

1. Remove the Hardware. 

The hardware on my box came off pretty easily. If you wish, you can mark the underside of the hinges to make sure they get back in the right place. Mine were a little uneven and required some problem solving to get the box back together once it was painted. 

2. Clean the Box up a Little. 

If you want to, sand any majorly rough places. Don't go too crazy, rough places catch paint and add to the distressed look.  Whether you sand or not, make sure all excess sawdust has been removed from the interior of the box. I used an electronics duster to blast some air into the box.

3. Apply the Base Color. 

I mixed my white and turquoise in a 1:1 ratio, then applied it to the box with a 1" brush. Nothing fancy here. I only did one coat, since I'll be distressing the box. I had planned to paint the designs engraved on the box with different colors and do a peacock on the inside of the lid, but after looking at it, I decided simple was best.

Here's my peacock sketch. Cute as he is, I decided I'm not an expert on painting peacocks. Need more practice.

4. Sand it Down. 

Dry the box with a hairdryer or wait for it to dry.

I used some rough grain sandpaper for the initial sanding, then smoothed out a few spots with a finer grade. The goal is to focus on the areas that would be scratched the most by normal wear and tear over time. Corners and edges are especially important, but be careful with the corners. These boxes aren't super thick and you can chip off a piece of the corner pretty easily. No big deal if you do, that happens over time, too.  Sand down to where you can see the natural wood underneath in some places. Also sand the engraved design a little, but not too much that you lose some of it.

5. Paint on the Distress Color. 

Mix brown, black, and water until you have a dark brown color that is the consistency of dirty dish water. Brush the mixture with the wood grain, making sure to dab extras into the corners and details on the lid. Before it dries, use a paper towel or rag to remove all the color you don't want. The less you remove, the darker the finish will be.

6. Reattach the Hardware.

Once your paint is dry, reattach the hinges first, making sure the edges align as well as they did before you started painting. Then close the box and reattach the clasp.

7. Fill the Box. 

I filled the bottom of the box with some leftover stuffing from another project. Then I nestled the extra cartridges, ink, and instructions in the stuffing. I then cut a piece of scrap fabric in a rectangle that was about 3" wider and longer than the bottom of the box. I tucked the edges around the stuffing. Then put the pen on top and it was ready to go!

The box turned out to be just perfect for the present. Since I had all the other materials, the cost was only $3.50, which is about what I would pay if I had put it in a gift bag with some tissue paper.

And all my extra peacock colors? I used them to make a peacock painting. I was going to give it with the pen, but my husband convinced me to hold onto it for a little while longer and make some improvements. I'll let you know when (if) I do.

Angry Birds King Pig Pinata

Whoops! In my last post, I believe I said my next project was a duvet cover. Well, I haven't worked any more on the duvet cover and I had already planned to make this pinata for my daughter's 2nd birthday. My oldest (now 5) was a talker, but her sister is not. She nods, points, signs, etc, but not a lot of words. As far as I know, she doesn't have a favorite TV show or character, but she LOVES Angry Birds (and Cars 2, but sister's 2nd birthday was Cars-themed and the baby seems to like Angry Birds more). She plays them on the iPad, she plays them on the phone, she gets really excited when she sees them in the stores, and she even climbs all over me to point to any that show up on my computer screen.

We had our theme! Angry Birds! I started doing some research to see what Angry Birds party supplies were available. I suppose for party supplies, the prices weren't too bad. We didn't need a lot, since we deliberately kept the guest list very small (we rented an inflatable slide and a bouncy castle and didn't want her to have to compete with a ton of other kids for a turn). When you're used to paying $1 for 8 plates at the dollar store, the thought of paying $4 for 8 plates + shipping is a little much. And she's 2, she won't care about the plates. The 5-year-old might, but not the little one.

Here's the other problem with buying premade party supplies: the pinatas are usually pretty awful. They are made of cardboard with a cheap tissue paper exterior. Okay, maybe they're cheap and cheerful (as one of my favorite shows often says). No, on average they range from $20-$70. Pretty pricey, considering the materials cost less than $5 and it doesn't take a lot of skill to make them. Without further ado, here is my take on the Angry Birds King Pig Pinata.

Angry Birds King Pig Pinata

Our Pinata Ingredients

1. Gather your supplies. 

To make a regular pig pinata you will need: 

• Newspaper, torn into 1" wide strips
• White paper- I recycled some packing paper, but copy paper will work as well. 
• Green tissue paper- 2-3 sheets
• White Glue or Craft Glue (I used Allene's Tacky Glue).*
• A Balloon, inflated with regular air and tied- round would be best, but we used an egg-shaped one. 
• 1 8.5 x 11" sheet card stock

*Alternatively, you can make a very inexpensive glue from flour and water, but if you don't blend it just right, it will leave floury clumps on your finished product. Also, it tends to dry off-white to yellow.

To make a king pig, you'll need the above,  plus:

• Aluminum foil
• 1 8.5 x 11" sheet card stock
• 4 plastic gems, approximately 1/2-1" in diameter. We recycled some that used to be in a stepping stone. 
• Tape

To make a structure for the pig to sit on, you'll need:

• Cardboard boxes of various sizes
• Contact paper that looks like marble
• Craft paper or paper grocery bags
• Packing Tape
• Brown marker

Glue Mixture

 2. Mix your glue. 

Mix equal parts glue and water in a large bowl. If the glue is a very good quality and/or very thick, increase the amount of water. I used about 1/2 cup glue and 3/4 cup water. The mixture should look and feel like whole milk.

 3. Apply the newspaper layer. 

Newspaper Strips in the Glue Bowl

This pinata will have 3 layers: newspaper, white paper, and tissue paper. The newspaper layer gives it structure. Put a handful of newspaper strips into your glue mixture. Don't put too many in at once or they will get too soggy and rip when you try to use them.The strips should be wet, but not saturated.

Pull one strip at a time from the bowl. Gently slide the strip between your index and middle fingers to get rid of the excess glue. Some of your strips will probably rip in this process, and that's okay.

(As a side note, I'm pretty proud of my 5-year-old who took the picture to the right and a lot of my other pictures on this post. No, I don't have a rash, that's a fading henna tattoo. )

Lay the strip of newspaper on the the balloon and smooth it down. I chose to do the first layer longitudinally. Keep applying strips, overlapping by a little bit each time. Patch any bare spots where you can still see the balloon with small or torn pieces. Also, using a second bowl to hold the balloon will help.


When that end of the balloon is fully covered, flip the balloon over and do the other side.

Laying down the first strips

First side nearly covered

First half finished

Starting second half

Putting on the final pieces

4. Apply white paper layer.

Starting the white paper layer

 Next add a layer of white paper using the same process as the newspaper layer. The packing paper I used did not tear as easily as the newspaper, so the strips were wider and more uneven. They also absorbed more of the glue mix and tore more easily when wet. Lay the white strips latitudinally over the newspaper strips.

Almost done!

5. Apply the tissue paper layer.

The tissue paper is the most fragile layer of the three. Since the white paper was pretty wet from the glue mixture, I pressed the tissue paper directly on top of it without soaking it in the glue first. Smooth any dry spots or places where the tissue paper is sticking up by spreading a little glue mixture over the spot with your fingers.

6. Make the crown. 

If you aren't doing a king pig, skip on down to step 7.

Fold your piece of card stock in half (short way), then in half again, parallel to your first fold.

Using the folds as a guide, mark and cut a zigzag line. This will give you 2 crowns to choose from. We went with the taller one. 

Tear a piece of aluminum foil just a little bit longer than the crown. Place the foil shiny side down on a table. Place the crown on the foil with the top of the points about 1/4" below the edge of the foil. Fold the excess foil up over the body of the crown, making sure the bottom of the crown is in the fold line. 

Cut a line from halfway between each two points of the crown to the lowest points in the "valleys" between.

Fold the cut pieces toward the crown points. 

Cut off the excess and hold in place with clear tape. 

Fold over the outside edges and hold in place with tape as well. 

I had decided to make my life easy and just use a silver crown. But my aforementioned 5-year-old insisted we needed a gold crown and offered to do it herself. Here she is performing alchemy with a yellow sharpie. 

Tape the two half-points together to make the crown. Using super glue, glue the gems in place. A word of warning- the super glue on ours reacted with the sharpie and turned bright red. One of our gems was a very pale blue and looked red on the finished product.

7. Dry the pinata. 

Allow the pinata to dry until the outer shell is stiff, at least overnight. Depending on how many layers you've put on it and/or the amount of glue you've used, it may take longer.

8. Fill it! 

Once the pinata is fully dry, mark a 2" square on the top of the "head." Using a sharp knife, cut 3 sides of the square. The balloon inside will pop with the first cut. Pull it out and discard (I had to borrow my daughter for this step). Make sure the inside of the pinata is dry before filling. Fill with your desired items. We used fruit snacks, soft pool balls, and lollipops. Since most of the guests were under 2, we shied away from an all-candy pinata. You could also use pencils, small bottles of bubbles, etc.

Our pinata filling materials

Once the pinata is filled, seal the hole with tape. If you are not adding a crown, you will need to cover the area with another layer of tissue paper. We covered it up by putting the crown on top with masking tape. 

9. Make the face. 

Use the 8.5 x 11" sheet of paper to make the pig's face. I drew mine to give my printer a break, but you can find a picture on the internet and print it out. Attach the face with glue.

10. Make the structure.

Wrap some of the boxes with the marble print contact paper. Wrap the other boxes with craft paper. Use the brown marker to make wood grain designs.

11. Set it up and enjoy!

Use the boxes to make a structure. Instead of hitting this pinata with a stick, the kids took turns throwing their stuffed angry birds at it. Then the baby pushed the whole thing over. The pinata took several hits. It finally busted when we threw it straight up in the air. It was so much fun! My girls still have the crown to play with and love to set up and knock over the boxes.