Fancy boxing

Look. I know alright. I know I have been slacking again. Im not even gonna bother this time with excuses either because lets face it they are very few and far between. I've just been lazy!

Do you remember a while ago when I mentioned this old wine box?

And told you I eventually wanted to make it look a little like these?

Well I came by a few more old wine boxes a while ago. They weren't quite as old and rustic looking as I wanted to so I spent a nice sunny day in the garden tea staining them to make the wood that little bit darker and rougher.



Then on a terrible rainy day I sat inside and recovered them all in the same matching wallpaper. I was tempted to mix and match a few because I got all of the pieces as samples from big DIY stores. I am guessing your only supposed to take a small sample. . . . But it isn't possible to create great artwork for free on a mini sample so I took a whole load!

This first one is my favourite because it's just quite kooky and weird! Like a Japanese anime drawing with french wording?!

I decided instead to cover all three of my boxes in this paper, which actually was a really great choice because I got the samples from Focus which was closing down so Im convinced they wouldn't have noticed even if I took the whole roll! I'm not a thief I swear, but I managed to get a nice big 'wodge', enough for all 3 boxes and a little left over . . . . . maybe for a 4th.

I did have in mind the perfect spot to put them up as I did just move my bedroom around. So my before shot . . . . . . (featuring my turquoise frame which actually was a little neglected at that point in time just left propped up against that crappy corner of wall. Ooops)

And the wall as it is now . . . . . .

All of the items I have in the boxes are little things I've picked up over the last few years. The top box has a green fan that I got in China last year and 2 coloured lanterns that I was given for my last birthday. The bottom box has a tea cup set which I picked up at an antique shop a while ago. I don't even drink tea. Or coffee for that matter but I love the colours. There is also a pair of chopsticks propped in the corner that I got from Thailand. Again, I can't even use chopsticks but as the famous saying by William Morris goes 'Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful'. Something I now religiously follow and allows me to feel alright when I pick up another thing for my room!

Also there is the small pink frame that I picked up at Newbury antique fair. I had a few ideas for it and originally thought I would cover over the picture inside with the same hot pink and then put a light pink key ontop in it's place but I was a little charmed by the picture in the end and like the contrast between the hot pink and the old.