Painted Twig Toolbox

More Rustic Creations

Little wooden toolboxes are the perfect way of carting around just the tools you need for a project - no more, no less.

Every carpenter, plumber and other handyman has a few of these, made from wood scraps. 

Just a narrow box with a handle, with room for those tools needed for just a day. 

And a snack, perhaps.

This one was salvaged from the recycle center. 

It's made of some kind of thin dimension lumber, cut into the shapes for the ends, then a skinny strip of wood for the handle.

I like that the creator of the toolbox used wood that wasn't perfect, making the top of the sides using whinny edge lumber. This just confirms the rustic nature of it - there's no mistaking it for something made in bulk for the retail market.

Common nails hold it all together securely but if I was concerned that it wouldn't hold up to use I would wire it with tie wire to be sure.

The bottom has several knot holes in - just exactly right for drain holes.

Because it doesn't have any twigs involved, I decided to paint some on. As usual, these are just acrylic craft paints. 

I used several different sizes of brush to create the typical characteristics of the way twigs grow - gradually diminishing in size from the trunk to the tiniest of twigs at the top of the tree.

The first coat is a wash to make it all a uniform grey and weathered look.  That silvery color is made by mixing a diluted combination of silver, white and black.

After each coat I let it dry so the next coat wouldn't smudge - luckily, these paints dry quickly, especially on warm sunny days.

In addition to the lines of the twigs, I used silvery grey to highlight the parts of the twigs that are uppermost - kind of like shadowing, but in reverse.

You could use a box like this for many things, from paint supplies to make up to soaps and sponges in the bathroom.  There's no end of uses for something rustic and creative.

As a matter of fact, planting them with succulents gives me even more great garden pots to display - Sempervivum are tough and resilient little plants. 

Mulch them with lava rock or pebbles, resist the urge to water them too much, and they're happy as clams.

These were removed and replanted in a shallow tray for the winter, freeing up the painted twig toolbox for another use.