MOST of the time I have TOO many ideas. I’ll know WHAT I want to do, but can’t decide which way to do it. And oftentimes, my FIRST idea is not the one I end up using. Rather one thing leads to another and eventually I get the look I was going for. It’s a PROCESS. Then there are the times that I just get STUCK!
And adding ‘that finishing touch’ to these two newly re-papered boxes was one of those times!
The bottom one is ‘hat box’ size and made of paper mache.
I have no idea what the top one was for originally. It had an ugly red-ish alligator skin finish, and is made of wood with a velvet-like lining inside. VERY sturdy. My first thought was to make it into a padded foot stool, with storage space inside.
So after I re-papered them and applied a couple of coats of matte varnish for durability, I wanted to add a ‘finishing touch’. This round wood finial was perfect for the mache hat box; BUT I really wanted to STACK the boxes when I take them to my booth at Curiosities in Beaverton. So, that meant I couldn’t put a knob on the box that would go on the bottom.
BUT, the little black knob just didn’t ‘look right’ on the bigger box. It felt too small.
So I decided to ‘beef it up’ a bit. I always keep some of these little wood plaques on hand, so I tried adding one of those first.
(of course I would have painted it black too, but I was just ‘trying it on for size’ first) Still not big enough!
So I went back to my ‘wood parts stash’ and got another round piece like the first one. Found this FABULOUS unfinished ‘bun foot’ and sandwiched it between the 2 small rounds. Then added a bigger round plaque as a base. I was still just ‘experimenting’ so nothing had been glued together yet. And I kept trying different combinations . . .but I was just STUCK! I could NOT decide what to do?!?! Because I REALLY wanted the black knob on the black lid; but I also wanted to be able to stack the boxes!! aaaaaaaaargh!!
The SIZE of the bigger one (as shown above) was certainly the right scale, but for some reason I just could NOT commit to permanently attaching it to the bigger box. Maybe I was ‘too stuck’ on the idea that it would make a great storage foot stool?!?
So I enlisted Michael’s help and asked for his opinion. Showed him all the different options, and explained why I didn’t want to attach it to the hatbox, but also didn’t want to ruin the possibility that the bigger one could be used as a foot stool.
It took him maybe 2 seconds to come up with the perfect solution: Just leave it SEPARATE, like a finial. Don’t attach it to either, but just set it on top of the taller box when you display them.
Genius! HOW did I not think of that myself?!?!?
I think that is why they call it “thinking outside the box”.