Hatbox Rescue

Samantha
by Samantha
1 Material
I found this old hat box that had been thrown out. I was definitely born in the wrong era as I'm drawn to these old pieces. I took it home knowing I could rescue it. It turned out to be a collection of putting together a lot of different elements I love. The rescued hat box, doilies, barbed wire, music sheets and my collection of tea bag packaging. When I started I wasn't quite sure where I was going with it, but I knew I wanted to put the hat box together again, but with a bit of me in it.






I started off by using masking tape to puzzle it together. I applied gel medium (a type of glue) to the inside of the hat box, sticking it together with a doillie.













Excuse the sugar canister, but it was the closet thing on hand to put abit of weight on the lid. The cast iron on top gave enough weight to straighten out the lid as it was slightly warped. I left it overnight to dry.







The bottom section was luckily only slightly torn apart.







This is the gel medium I use. Its absolutely amazing. Works fantastically as a glue, it dries see through. It can also be used to add texture to a canvas.







I used ribbon as support on the section that were pulling apart. Again left it to dry overnight.







I stuck music sheets on the inside and used lace as ties, so that the lid doesn't fall backwards when opened.







I stuck music notes on the outside aswell. The bottom section is my collection of tea bag packaging I've been collecting. They're made out of material and have these wonderful little sayings on them about enjoying a cup of tea (That's if you enjoy tea, then you'd appreciate them). To incorporate the barbed wire I made a heart and hung it from the side latch.

























The end product fits in well. It might not be everybody's taste, but it's nice to see that it's not landing in a dumpster.
Suggested materials:
  • Gel medium, material tea bag packaging's, music sheets, lace, doillie and the throw away hat box
Frequently asked questions
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3 of 5 questions
  • Laurel Fant Laurel Fant on Mar 19, 2017
    What's the significance of the barbed wire?
  • Sharron Bennett Sharron Bennett on Mar 19, 2017
    Where are music sheets sold? Your hat box is gorgeous. Now I know how to re do an old one I have that belonged to my Grandmother.
  • Bzm11686139 Bzm11686139 on Mar 19, 2017

    Did you trim the border off the doily?

Comments
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4 of 48 comments
  • Jacx Jacx on Mar 20, 2017

    I recently found some and am hoarding it! May copy it to use. Only have a few pages. Seems to be difficult to find around here. The chair I'm working on is much older than I first thought. It has straw, horse hair and cotton felt inside. Had thought to just clean the outer fabric and put a slip cover over all, then paint, then sell it. The fabric literally fell apart! So, now I'm taking it apart and will recover it. Doesn't look to be profitable but will learn something. Can I ask how you got to being able to post what you do, would love to do the same. Thanks for info.

    • Samantha Samantha on Mar 20, 2017
      Hi Jacx. When you go into the Hometalk site. There's a Post Project icon next to the Search DIY ideas bar. you go in on that and post your project. Whenever you start something just make sure you take photos. I have a bad habit of only remembering half way through. I've missed out on posting so many projects because of that. You'll love it once you've started. Good luck with your chair and hopefully that'll be the first of many posts to come. Enjoy
  • Maria Soria-Valenzuela Maria Soria-Valenzuela on Apr 06, 2017

    I will have to look out for these old hat boxes!! I have lots of hats and just ordered 6 more! Your DIY project is adorable!!💖

    • Samantha Samantha on Apr 09, 2017
      Hello Maria. Thank you very much. I hope you do find one. With us they have become as scarce as chickens teeth😅
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