WARNING!!! MOXIE FAB PHOTO HEAVY POST AHEAD.......

I am so excited to post and share my most recent project! I went on the Moxie Fab blog during one of my "trying to find some inspiration" trolls and saw that Cath had these three challenges that really prompted me to try something totally out of my comfort zone.    I decided to make each of my girls a ....well, I am not even sure what to call it.  I saw these super inexpensive cardboard advent calendar containers at Hobby Lobby and used a coupon to bring down the cost to about $6 for the advent calendar.  It is a cardboard container with 25 cardboard drawers which I thought that I could redecorate and give to my two girls as a funky jewelry box. This type of 3 dimensional project is really a step out of my comfort zone.  But, I had a blast making this.  I think I might be one of the last crafters to get into "altered art"....I think that is what this might be called. And the three Moxie Fab challenges that dealt with "ready made embellishements" and using "cork, metal and wood"  and "using general craft supplies" seemed pretty much tailored made for the type of adornments and stuff that I have been hoarding over the years.  You know, the type of stuff that looks sooooo cool that you gotta buy it....especially when you can get a sale but then you never are really sure about how to use it.  Like Advent cartons.  And,  Tim Holtz stuff.   I certainly have always admired Tim Holtz and consider myself to have been so lucky to take a class and meet him at Scrapfest last year.  I have never really, outside of that class, every felt that I could take his "funkiness" and apply it to something that I would use or give in my own life.  I was more concerned that what he can create so well would turn out to look like a brownish distressed blob of c@#% in my hands!  And so, I admired from a distance all the folks who can "alter" items and make them look cool and fun.

But, I secretly bought and hoarded do-dads and ephemera and Tim Holtz stuff whenever I saw it on sale at Hobby Lobby. Or Micheal's.  Or JoAnn's.  I did this until I had a shoebox full of metal bits of coolness staring me....taunting me with it's need to be made into something.  And then Moxie Fab and it's perfect challenges came along......

So, I saw this advent box-y thing and thought this is my plunge into the world of altered art.  And, man alive, DID I EVER HAVE FUN!

First, I decided on paper and found that I did best with paper that is coordinated in a 6x6 pack.  The paper also need to be two sided.  I then cut each sheet into 2 1/4" squares.  I modpodged each "drawer" and then laid the paper onto the drawer and modpodged again.  These drawers then were stacked over a glue bottle, mist bottle....whatever I had to allow them to dry.  When dry, I distressed each corner and edge with distress inks.  I modpodged each drawer 3 times.  I also cut coordinating strips from the paper pack into 6 x 2 1/4" strips to be modpodged over the sides and top of the advent box.  I used a large sheet of card stock to modpodge over the back.  I did the same distressing on the corners and edges of the box and also distressed the bottom edge and each little cubicle edge.  Then the whole thing was modpodged 3 times just like the drawers were.

After all was modpodged 3 times and dry the real fun began!  It was time to decorate each drawer and I can't tell you how much fun that was to do!  As you will see by the pictures I went a little wild and didn't follow a theme except to distress each item in some way.  I also used Platinum Stickle for a bit of glimmer and shabby glam and really, the pics do not do justice to just how cool this stickle color looks! A while back my husband bought me a dremel to use to make earrings and I used this little dremel to sand and file away the edges of certain embellishments.  I also used a small, personal drill to drill the holes for the legs, knobs, brads and corner pieces.  Both little tools worked just great and I loved the fact that I could do a project and "alter" anything I felt like using.  I also used "Matte" finish ModPodge so the project wouldn't looks super shiney.  I am in the process of making another one of these for my other daughter and am thinking of a Christmas themed one as well.  Mine is made to stand but I think it would be equally nice to make one that can me hung on the wall.

So, here is the finished project, standing up on it's own little adorable four legs....I also included a pic of it lying down to try and eliminate some of the glare....not too sure that I succeeded.  I also am going to enter this into two Moxie Fab challenges.....something I hardly ever get to do!  I love Kath's inspirations and hope that now that I am an empty nester I will be able to take part in more challenges instead of always having to do what family and friends want! I am not sure this totally qualifies as it isn't a card but I am going to share it anyways!  Can you feel how excited I am?  Don't you love it when something turns out????  Anywho....I certainly used alot of challenge "stuff" in making this project!

So, I will be entering this into the    Moxie Fab Challenge The General Craft Supplies Challenge , Moxie Fab Challenge "The Metal, Wood and Cork Challenge",  and also into the Moxie Fab Challenge "The Ready Made Embellishements".

 Here is the top of it....the next one that I make I am going to put a cabinet handle on the top rather a frame like this.....I think I will put the frames on the side.  The top embellishments and the side embellishments cover/mask the seam where the two pieces of paper meet.  This pic also shows the two different types of corner hardware I used.  The back has a industrial look while the front (see pic above) has a more ornate look.

With both the upper corner pieces and the lower corner feet I glued the drawers into the box and then drilled the holes through both the box and the drawer.  I also did that on the sides where the embellishments are.  Therefore there are 6 drawers out of 25 that can't actually be pulled out....this is partially because the 4 front corner pieces block the drawers but it is also done to make the overall piece more stable.  Then when I put the brads in I also put glue or glossy accents into the holes to help hold the brads to the metal accents nice and tight.

I don't know if I would call this a tutorial but I hope that if you too want to create this type of project you will be able to follow my tips and do so.  If you have any questions I will be happy to answer them. I sent the project on to my daughter today by way of a pal of her's who was heading back to Minn so I will for sure share her response with  you all when I get it!  I am soooo excited to hear what she thinks!

Thank you for hanging with me thru this super long post...and I hope you are having a wonderful weekend!

Be well,
Sheila