The Jardin box on the bottom is the one I mentioned yesterday as the "before" of my project. When I saw them at Michael's, I really loved the shape & they were a great $ deal. {About $4 each I think?} I knew the word on the box was French, but actually had to look up what it meant – Garden, of course. It's not a word that speaks to me, plus I think they were supposed to look aged, but they kind of looked dirty. After sanding off the word & most of the paint from the outside, I painted the inside a bright white to clean up the look a bit.
With the inside white, I thought it would be easier to see buttons or whatever small things end up being stored in there.
Then I got busy on the design for the outside. This was going to be the back, but I actually like it better than the image on the other side. 🙂
My favorite part though is the little bee hive on the end! The holes there on either side of it are where the handles will be screwed back on. Just have to paint them white too before they're reattached.
So, why all the bees? I've been following Sharon Stiteler's blog. It's mostly about birdwatching, but she's got a whole bee-keeping section that I just love! Through her writing & wonderful photos, she really makes a person want to try having their own bees. Fresh honey ~ neat! I haven't read all the way back to the beginning yet, but from what I gather, she's keeping bees with her husband & two friends. The friends happen to be Neil Gaiman and his assistant Lorraine! Kinda crazy. If you're not familiar with Neil Gaiman, that won't seem weirdly interesting. But trust me, its pretty cool.
Speaking of which ~ if you don't know Neil's work {pretending to be on a first name basis with him…ha!} please do look into it. He's an amazing author, but has his hand in so many creative projects – not the least of which beekeeping! – that it would be hard for me to give a short run-down. If you're in a story-listening mood however, I really recommend checking out his reading of The Graveyard Book. It's so great to hear the author read his own work + it's appropriate for all but perhaps the most easily spooked really young child. It's so good. I enjoyed it last October while working on miscellaneous Halloween crafty things. So good! 🙂
♥