Something a little different - Up-cycled Suitcase

Morning all

It’s a quiet one here. I think the children are making the most of the last lie in before they go back to school tomorrow. Either that or the very long walk I took them on yesterday has completely wiped them out!

I’ve finally been back in the craft room but not for card making. About three years ago I rescued an old wooden suitcase or travellers box from a bonfire. I spotted it on a pile that was being set up for a community event and it was just too good to burn. I figured no one would miss it as they had thrown it on the bonfire. So for the last two days I’ve been up-cycling it.

Here’s the before photo:

I removed the old hard leather from the corners and removed the tacks and screws where possible. Others I just had to hammer further in to get rid of the sharpness. Out came a power tool and I sanded the whole thing down and painted with grey paint we had left over from painting the shed! I found some black metal paint which was ideal for the handle. 

Stage one photo:

Looking much better already! 

Following this I decorated the top with some left over wallpaper (literally never throw anything away!!) and then I set about making new corner details. Now I didn’t have any leather so I decided to use black card die cut into a circle, embossed it and used gilding wax to give it a leather or even metal look. This worked really well so I also added some ‘straps’ to make it look like you could fasten the case. In true crafter style, this last portion of the work took me the longest...😂

And the finished product:

I’m really pleased with how it turned out and glad I was able to save it from being burnt on the bonfire. It’s going to be used to store the girls keepsakes and also as a TV stand in our guest room as we need something low with it being the attic room. 

Hope you like it too and thanks for visiting. 

Steph x