Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Before and After: Altered Cigar Box

My latest creation to come out of my workshop is an altered cigar box. I found the cigar box in a local smoke shop and loved the shape of the box and the quality of the wood. Because the outside of the box already had a thick, glossy varnish, I did not sand it down and wanted the wood itself to be a part of the overall aesthetic. 





The cigar box was first decorated with torn pieces of vintage Wuthering Heights novel pages that had a lovely, natural patina. I then separated the top tissue layer of a soft green floral napkin and decoupaged torn fragments over the book pages. Beneath the box latch, I glued a portion of a vintage earring that has real pressed flowers inside. 







The cigar box lid consists of antique-inspired scrapbooking paper with torn edges, more torn pieces of Wuthering Heights pages, nature collage images, ink-stamped flourishes and a pendant I created and repurposed. The woman in the glass dome pendant is the beautiful Arlette Dorgere, a French stage actress, famous in the early 20th century.






The cigar box "feet" consist of four wood blocks that were covered with Wuthering Heights novel pages. They were adhered to the bottom with super-strong contact adhesive. 

The inside top lid was covered with vintage wallpaper. The outside of the cigar box was sealed with layers of acrylic varnish and Mod Podge.














This was such a fun project to make! This was my first altered cigar box where I experimented with adding "legs". Besides wood blocks, I have seen altered wood doll heads and thread spools used as legs to prop up keepsake boxes. 

This altered cigar box has been added to my Etsy Shop, Lovely Fever : https://www.etsy.com/listing/101405464/mixed-media-altered-cigar-box-nature

6 comments:

  1. Your cigar box is magnificent. A true work of art. I can see it on a nightstand in a lovely romantically designed bedroom. I especially like the fact that you adding feet. Thank you for stopping by and for your sweet comments. Have a lovely weekend, Connie :)

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    1. Thank you so much Connie! I am definitely going to experiment with adding feet to boxes more. Thank you for checking out my blog and I always enjoy checking out your new blog posts!

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  2. OMG this is ANOTHER gorgeous creation!! You are sooo talented, Jessica! I just know someone shopping at Etsy will give this a new home!
    Wuthering Heights? only THE most romantic novel EVER.
    What lovely details, and beautiful touches. I just love your unique creations!
    love,
    Sherilyn

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  3. Sherilyn-- Thank you so much! Wuthering Heights is SO romantic. Its one of my favorites, actually. I am sure this box will belong to the right person one day! Thanks for stopping by! Take care-- Jessica

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  4. Hi, Jessica
    I love the embellishments you used on the cigar box. Thank you for visiting Castles, Crowns, and Cottages Paris Party on my blog today.
    Oh! And I will need your email address for the French pillow giveaway.
    You can send it to me via my email address: tscat@sbcglobal.net
    Have a lovely rest of the weekend and week!
    Teresa in California
    http://amagicalwhimsy.blogspot.com/

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  5. Teresa--

    Thank you so much for stopping by my blog as well! I will be sending you my email for the giveaway!

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