Vintage Country!!

Happy Thursday to you all!  The week is almost done...seems like this week has flown by.  I have to take Alexa out after school today to get shoes, clutch & jewelry for prom.  Her dress is red and she wants gold accessories so I hope we are able to find everything today as I have no time this weekend to do it.  Prom is next Saturday and there are 42...YES 42 kids having their pictures taken together...oy vey.  And then about 6 girls will be here early getting ready, 12 for pictures at the house including Alexa's date and then we go to the park to take pics of all 42 of them.  Her friend Maya is coming up for the weekend from Atlanta (she moved in March) and will be staying with us and going to prom...so they are all super excited.  Alexa gets her hair done at 1 and then all the girls will be here at 3 to get ready...so my house will be overrun with girls, giggling and yelling LOL.

My mom is coming up for the weekend as well...so its gonna be a full house...crazy...chaotic but always FUN!  Of course if you follow me on Facebook you will see all the prom pics up there first LOL.

This weekend we are doing more yard work on Saturday to get the yard finished up for prom pictures and then on Sunday we will be in DC at a Nationals game...yup my Mother's Day will be at Nat's Park for this gal...its all good (as long as we win of course).  I asked for a large lilac bush for my Mom's Day gift...I love the smell of lilacs and my Gram has a HUGE lilac tree/bush that I just adore! Hope mine blooms like my Gram's does...its gorgeous and the smell is HEAVEN!

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Vintage Country!

One of my fave projects I've done in awhile....this one is for ME and takes its spot in my kitchen.  I collect antique recipe boxes, they have to be special and different for me to add them to my collection.  But I have a bit of a rooster/chicken fetish too...I have a few rooster & chicken things around the house...you won't come in and see a BUNCH of them though, no way but I do have a few here and there.  I like just a few and they have to be special for me to display them...I don't do cute knick-knacks in my house, cuz' I hate extra clutter or stuff just sitting around.

I'm entering this into the following challenges:

Make It Monday (anything goes)

Crafty Creations Challenges (old/new)

Divas by Design (anything goes)

Whimsical Designs (alter it)

Loves Rubber Stamps (anything goes)

This is what my project started out like....a plain, wooden cigar box and some Tim Holtz metal legs.

I have a few cigar boxes...when I see them I grab them...don't ask how many a "few" is LOL!

I used Graphic 45 "French Country" papers...I LOVE LOVE LOVE them...got that...I LOVE these papers LOL!  Match my colors in my first floor of my house perfectly!  All my papers were distressed...heavily with my Zutter and then inked heavily with Distress Ink and Stain in Vintage Photo.  I attached all my papers to the box with Modge Podge.

The rooster image is a Crafty Individuals stamp called "Fresh Eggs & Chickens"...I love their collage stamps and SCACD carries some of their line too (I think I want the ship next..yuppers).  The "Recipes" was done with two PTI stamps and then distressed.  The lil paper clips are from Tim Holtz too.  I added a bit of color to the chickens with TouchTwins to just make them pop more.  The decorative nails holding the recipe down are actually brads...I cut off the backs with my Tonic scissors, press them flat and then add them so they look like nails.  The scroll underneath Recipes is a Memory Box die "Val Flourish", the clock die at top is an SCACD die "Classic Timepiece"...both were cut out of the same patterned paper used on sides of box.  The postcard is actually from the Graphic 45 paper pad, I just cut it out and distressed it a bit.

The legs from Tim Holtz Idea-ology just add an extra oomph to it I think!  They are kind of burnished silver but I used acrylic paint in black & brown to distress them...let it dry and then added an acrylic sealer so it doesn't chip off.

After the modge podge dried on the box I went back in with a sanding block and roughed up all the edges and paper...then went over it with Distress Stain in Vintage Photo.

The clasp on the cigar box was brass and I didn't like it LOL.  So I added the same acrylic paint mix to the clasp.  The lock is from Tim Holtz added with some wire and I added some paint to that as well...when dry it was sprayed with acrylic sealer.

I didn't alter the inside...I like the wood stamp that is in the cigar boxes and wanted to keep the wood untouched.

So there ya go...my altered cigar box...sitting in my kitchen so I can see it all the time!  Will I use it for recipes?  Probably not LOL!