lacquer box fail & rescue.

Happy (early) St. Patrick's Day! 

(Although it's not the day yet, and I don't really celebrate it... and this post has nothing to do with the occasion... just thought I'd jump the gun and say it)

About a year ago, I came across a very simple laminate box in Goodwill.

It was nothing fancy, but the blank slate and the $4 price tag were good enough to think of something creative to change it.

After removing the hardware, filling the holes (for the unwanted latch at the front) with wood filler, I got a bit of painters tape, spray paint, and came up with this:

From afar it looked like a nice Lacquer box... oh, but don't let it fool you.

On closer inspection, you can see it didn't turn out so great. 

There were dings...

and weird smudgy marks.

it was not a pretty sight.

So, rather than let it sit in my room forever in its unattractive state (which I did... for about a year), I decided to change my original plan.

I gave the insides two coats of Martha Stewart Gold Metallic craft paint, and the outside was sanded down and it got two coats of Martha's Wild Blueberry craft paint.

For the edging, since I was still craving the lacquer 'look', I went to Lee Valley and bought two bags of these three sided corner straps @ $2.40 per package, and gave them two coats of Gold metallic spray paint.

To attach the straps, I needed escutcheon pins, which Lee Valley had; however, they were near impossible to nail them into place without hammering my sausage fingers (or at least that's what they felt like when holding those things!)

So instead, I just wood glued them on (gasp! *tsk* to my short cuts)

In the end, it looked much improved (aside from the lid being a little off...)

I was thinking of adding this plate to the lid or front, but thought it might end up looking like an Asian urn (or is that just my twisted imagination?)

Even though they don't have nails in the holes, at this point, I'm happy with it being finished (no more bleached wood laminate or bumpy paint staring back at me!)

I thought it would be a great little chest to hold cards that I have scattered around my house (I have shoe boxes filled, and this would be a nicer looking alternative)

Well, this is definitely a step up from what it used to look like.

Before:

and After:

Hope you have a great weekend!