Pinspired and Produced #8{17}

I’ve said before that I’m really loving the symbol for the Red Cross right now.  The other night I did a google image search for Vintage Red Cross and this is one of the things I found.  I even posted about my little vintage First Aid travel kit from Johnson & Johnson – that also has a red cross motif.  I can’t explain it.  There is some kind of recognition when I see it.  It’s not the symbolism of the cross.  It’s more the simplicity of the design.  The color.  But there is definitely an unknown quantity.  There is something about it that is just. . . right.

So this project is only Pinspired because I pinned the inspiration piece myself.  You can see it on my board called “design for bevier”.   Vintage Hemingway Red Cross Stretcher Box.  Hmmm. . .  I’m not sure why it’s called that but for the price you would think Hemingway was inside the box!  After I thought about it for a minute I realized that I could recreate this piece with materials I already have.  I find this kind of thing very exciting.  I’ve had this old wooden box for a really long time.  I can’t even remember when I bought it but I seem to remember paying about five bucks.  It’s got some age on it but it’s nothing fancy.  I used to use it as a coffee table/foot stool when I lived in various studio apartments.  It was painted at some point – kind of a greyish-browney-green.

a shot of the back - because I already started painting the front. . .

the box is just about 3 feet wide - and has been sitting under a dining room window for years. here you can see the result of several different dogs standing on it to look out to the driveway. . .

I had to wait a while to start this project because I really thought it should be done with ASCP Pure White and I didn’t have any.  After a trip to visit my stockist in Saugerties, I decided on a base coat of Old White, with Pure White over it.  Here you can see the difference between the two colors.

i love both of these colors and the Old White makes a great base coat

I was unsure as to how I would get the red cross image onto the box.  I could think of a couple of different ways but mostly they required waiting (to get a stencil, to get the right kind of paintbrush, to get some advice).  I am impatient.   Also, I wanted it to be pretty close to perfect.  I didn’t want it to look hand drawn (at least not the way I would hand draw it).  In the end I used a combination of Frog Tape and a manila folder and I made my own stencil.  It was a little nerve wracking but I kept telling myself that I could always paint over it. . .

i did the first coat in ASCP Coco - i didn't want the red to look pink from the white shining through. . . the red is Emperor's Silk - the stencil worked very well. . .

I’m so happy with the way the project turned out.  After all of the paint was dry I distressed the box with sandpaper.  I smoothed out brushstrokes and took it right down to the wood in a few places.  I did a coat of clear wax on the entire box and I used dark wax in a few places to add some age.

before any distressing. . .

And the final product

vintage red cross inspired box

vintage red cross inspired box

vintage red cross inspired box

vintage red cross inspired box

vintage red cross inspired box

I guess I just saved myself about $705.00.

That’s my project for the week.  It’s been a very exciting week for me here on the blog.  I just got some more fantastic news tonight that I’ll be able to share in a couple of weeks.  How was your week?  Are you looking forward to this weekend?  Do you have any projects planned?  Tell me about your DIY endeavors!

I’m linking this post to:

Furniture Feature Friday at Miss Mustard Seed

Saturday NIte Special at Funky Junk Interiors

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By Breida Category: Blog, Salvaged Goods, Woodwork Tags: , , , , , ,