Today I'm bringing to you a guest post by my dear friend Annie of the newly-formed Seekers of the Wild Heart coven. Annie is going to show you how to make a cushioned, decorated box for your witchy tools.
I've been searching for a box to keep all my tools in, and, more
importantly, transport them. I have a very pretty, custom-made ceramic
chalice and a rather delicate glass pentacle, and was concerned about
taking them outside the apartment for ritual. When I searched for boxes
for ritual gear, though, many of them were quite expensive and even more
simply didn't fit my tools. My wand alone is 19 inches long, which
meant it just didn't fit in most boxes.
For this project, I spent about $40 in supplies (some of which can
be used again). Your mileage may vary, depending on the size of box you
use and which of the supplies you already have on hand. It took about
one solid day of off-and-on work (lots of time was spent waiting for
things to dry), plus an evening.
Supplies:
- A plastic box that will fit all of your tools, allowing at
least 1" on each side and at least an inch (preferably more) between
each tool (lay your tools out on the floor and measure the space they
consume). I found
this one for $10 at the Container Store
- Plenty of paper and ink in your printer
- Hairspray (a travel-size one will work fine, if you don't already own any)
-
Mod Podge - the 8 oz. container should suffice
- Some popsicle sticks for removing the occasional air bubble
- A small foam brush (available at Michael's for about 50 cents)
- Krylon crystal clear acrylic coating
- Enough sheets of 1" thick foam to fill the box (I used two packages of
this)
- X-Acto knife
- 1 yard of satin or other fabric you wish to line the box with
- Needle and thread (color does not matter)
- Duct tape
Process:
1. Find and collect dozens of images from Pinterest (or
elsewhere) that evoke your deities, the elements, whatever you choose,
then arrange those pictures in a word processor or graphic design
program and print them. Err on the side of gathering too many images,
rather than too few. You'll have a lot of surface area to cover. You can
always save the extra images for another project. I ended up printing
22 pages worth of images, and just barely had enough.
2. Spray each printed page with hairspray to make sure the ink doesn't
smear when you apply the glue to it later. Let each sheet dry separately
for 15 minutes or so.
3. Cut or tear each image into the shape you
want (I did boxy shapes for the earth pictures, flowy, irregular shapes
for the water pictures, spiky shapes for the fire pictures, and smooth,
even, round shapes for the air pictures, for example).
3. Wash your box box thoroughly with soap and water and allow it to dry fully for a few hours.
4.
Arrange the pictures on the box the way you like. I covered both the
lid and the sides of my box with images, putting the earth images on the
top part of the lid and the side adjacent to it, the air images on the
right part of the lid and the side adjacent to it, the fire images on
the bottom part of the lid and the side adjacent to it, and the water
pictures on the left part of the lid and the side adjacent to it. But of
course, you can do whatever pleases you!
5. Remove the pictures a few at a time, painting Mod Podge onto the box
with the foam brush in an even layer, then smoothing down the pictures
and coating the top of them with Mod Podge. You may need to use a
popsicle stick to press out the occasional air bubble, but be gentle, as
the paper tears easily.
6. After all the images are arranged and glued on, paint one more layer
of Mod Podge over the top, and allow the box to dry for at least 15
minutes.
7. Apply another couple of layers of Mod Podge, letting the box dry for at least 15 minutes between each application.
8. Once the box is totally dry, spray it with Krylon crystal clear
acrylic coating and allow it to dry again. I ended up doing three coats
of Krylon, allowing it to dry for 15-30 minutes between each coat, but
one coat may suffice. Just add coats until you're happy with the
texture.
9. Cut and arrange the foam to fit precisely inside the box. I ended up
with five layers of one-inch-thick foam, each layer consisting of two
pieces of foam (because no one sheet was wide enough to fill the box).
10. Remove the top layer of foam and set it aside. That'll be the part that gets stuck to the lid of the box.
11. Arrange your tools on the top layer of foam that's still in the box,
allowing at least one inch of space on each side and between each tool.
Using a Sharpie or pen, trace around each tool (you may have to press
the tool into the foam a bit to get a good trace). Remove the tools from
the foam.
12. Using the X-Acto knife, cut along the trace lines through the first
layer of foam. For tools that require more depth, once the hole is cut,
trace within the hole using your pen or marker and cut that layer with
the X-Acto knife. Repeat until the hole is deep enough, but allow at
least 1" of foam at the bottom that is untouched.
13. Nestle your tools within the holes you created to make sure they fit okay. Make any adjustments needed.
14.
Take your fabric and cut it into two pieces - one that will wrap around
the reserved layer of foam (it doesn't need to fully cover the back,
but it should wrap around each side and have enough left over to be
tacked onto the back), and one that will lay over the foam that's been
carved. Be sure to allow enough fabric on the latter for it to fill each
hole you've cut for the tools and still have enough to tuck into the
sides of the box.
15. Take the piece of fabric that goes into the box and lay it over the
foam, pushing it into the holes and tucking it into the sides.
16.
Take the remaining piece of fabric and wrap it around the reserved layer
of foam. Holding it in place, use wide stitches to stitch the fabric to
the foam, being sure not to go all the way through the foam (you don't
want your stitches to show on the "good" side). Stitch all the way
around, paying particular attention to the corners.
17. Roll strips of duct tape so that both sides are sticky, then arrange
them onto the inside of the lid. I used about a dozen strips to do
this.
18. Press the stitched side of the top foam piece to the duct tape, making sure it's aligned in the center of the lid.
All done! Put your tools into the nice, fabric-lined holes, put the cushioned lid on top, and you're good to go.
