Inspiration comes from the most unexpected places sometimes.  Okay, maybe not the most unexpected places.  The most unexpected places would include the corner of my produce drawer where that pepper disintegrated / exploded / was experimented on by aliens, followed by the spot under my art chair where the unidentifiable gunk is living and (despite my best efforts at cleaning) possibly breeding.  Running a close third, however, might be this image, which I posted a few weeks back as one of our Sunday Freebies:

Cerebral Physiology - CSMAC

Do you look at that image and say, “OMG I HAVE TO MAKE A STEAMPUNK-INSPIRED KLEENEX BOX COVER THAT CAN ALSO DISPLAY ART!”?  I’m guessing you don’t.  For whatever reason, I did.

I started with this metal Kleenex box cover.  It was made by Waverly, but I found it at Goodwill.

01 Bare Box

For the sides, I grabbed this whole assortment of frames and things, some from Goodwill, some from my existing stash.

02 Bare Frames and Box

Before I started painting, I wanted to make sure the concept would work – that is, that I could in fact bolt frames to the box and still fit Kleenex inside – so I dragged out the drill and got to work.

03 Drilling and placing frames

04 Adding the Box

See the box of Kleenex tucked in there?  It worked!  I celebrated by breaking out the gesso.

05 Gesso

After that, I base coated everything in Light Burnt Umber.

06 Base Coat of Burnt UmberThat, of course, led to . . . color!

07 Painting Progress

Although the frames could be used to display existing ATCs, I decided to make a little piece to honor the origin of this Kleenex box cover.

09 Art for the First Frame

Once I had selected images for all of the sides, I added some snaps to capture the look of rivets.

11 Art for the Second Frame - Plus Rivets

Here is that light switch plate again, now fully painted and decked out with gears.  (Given their size, it probably goes without saying that these are real gears from real watches.  I feel very fortunate that someone gave me a whole bag full, because those suckers are worth a lot of money!)

12 Steampunk Forest

There are more gears on the frame on the right.  Meanwhile, that box on the left is not really that green.   (Thank you, camera flash.)

13 Inside the Box

I added some cap nuts to the top, staining them with alcohol ink and a copper mixative.

14 Box on Top

And there you go!

 

Box and Frame with Kleenex

 

Tongue Frame Detail Shot

 

Shot with Kleenex

 

Plate Shot

 

Gears Money Shot

Feature Shot 1

 

Box Open

Kleenex - Three Sides Visible

Normally, my Living with Art projects live with me in my house, but this one is available in my Etsy shop.

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ann

Ann D'Angelo is a dedicated drinker of diet Coke who has never spotted a thrift store she didn't want to visit or an item she didn't want to alter. Check out Ann's shop.

14 Comments

happytiler · April 11, 2014 at 12:17 am

Wow fabulous!! Yes I have bought many thrift store finds and painted them. My parents had that light switch cover when I was growing up…it's old!! Thanks for sharing such a detailed tutorial!!

Hugs Giggles

    AnnDAngelo · April 11, 2014 at 3:49 pm

    Thanks, Giggles! I am so tickled that your parents had that same light switch cover. I just thought it was really funky and cool!

sarah · April 11, 2014 at 10:08 am

That is so awesome! I love all the bits and bobs, and the PAINT. Holy awesome. Love it.

    AnnDAngelo · April 11, 2014 at 3:49 pm

    Yay! I was really excited with the way the paint came out. 😀

aga · April 11, 2014 at 2:34 pm

absolutely fantastic and inspiring creativity. Thank you for sharing

    AnnDAngelo · April 11, 2014 at 3:49 pm

    Thank you so much, aga!

Christine · April 11, 2014 at 6:12 pm

wow nice creative work!

Abigail Davidson · April 11, 2014 at 8:32 pm

Wow! What an amazing project and I enjoyed seeing the stages of your work. This is so cool!

    AnnDAngelo · April 11, 2014 at 11:43 pm

    Thank you, Abigail! I always love seeing other people's progress pictures, so I try very hard to remember to take them myself. 😉

Cindy D. · April 12, 2014 at 11:12 am

I must admit, I was skeptical at the beginning with the collection of objects. I should know better by now! The result is really spectacular! Terrific warm and metallic tones, hardware that requires drilling! Cool and interesting from every angle! Though I suppose that one side with the switch plate cover is my least favorite, just because the images and the moving parts of the other sides are so damn cool. It is in your bathroom now? Was it a gift for someone who has everything? AWESOME PROJECT!

(Also, that's your kitchen table, right? Do you just have a giant bin you can sweep all the supplies into, or do all the supplies get carted back by the armload to cubby holes here and there? SO CURIOUS. And finally! I can't see what the problem is but your link in the above comment is not working for me.) 🙂

    AnnDAngelo · April 15, 2014 at 11:13 am

    I am glad to know that you were skeptical in the beginning, because that means I turned you around! I like that! 😀

    I keep all of my assemblage supplies in the cubbies in my spare room – unless they're too big, in which case they live in the garage.

    I will investigate the link. Thanks for the heads up!

Crystal · April 15, 2014 at 9:55 am

I think that little box on the side makes an excellent hiding spot. What to put there…Boogie Wipes! http://www.boogiewipes.com/

    AnnDAngelo · April 15, 2014 at 11:12 am

    Hahahaha! That's a great idea. Someone on Facebook also suggested Purell, which I thought was clever.

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