Country Style Mailbox with Rachel Walsh

Hi Twiddley Fans,

Today DT Member RACHEL WALSH shares the creative process for recreating a country style mailbox.

Country Style Mailbox

Created by Rachel Walsh for Twiddleybitz

Materials:

Twiddleybitz:

Mailbox

Twiddley Groove Alpha (ALPHA001)

Vine 

Butterfly BUT006

Rusting Powder TWBTZRUST

Other materials:

Corrugated A4 card

Scrap of plain card

Basic Grey patterned paper

Paint – grey (or mix white with a tiny bit of black)

Black Gesso

Glimmermist

Tim Holtz Distress Stain – Rusty Hinge

Flowers

Florist tape & wire

Bird

Vinegar

Glue – Helmars 450

Embossing powders

Heat Gun

  

Step 1 (Optional): 

Cover or paint the inside of the walls, base & flap of the mailbox.  

Step 2: 

Cover the sides, ends & flap with corrugated board (I bought A4 sheets as it is thinner & more flexible than an old box – and less messy – but you can recycle a box if you prefer).  Paint or mist the bottom of the base piece, and the three pieces that hold the flap in place. 

Step 3:  

Using a strong glue, attach the flap pieces, making sure you insert the flap through the holes before gluing the last piece in place. Glue the four sides together, and attach to base piece.  Use lackey bands to hold it together while it dries.

Step 4: 

Gently bend the roof along the score lines (a light mist of water can assist).  Using strong glue, attach to the box and use lackey bands to hold it while it dries. 

Step 5:  

Cover the roof with corrugated card, trimming to fit after you have secured it.  Neaten any rough edges with sandpaper.

Step 6:

  Cut ¾” strips of card, score along the centre, and attach to the corners of the box to neaten the joins.  

Step 7:  

Roughly paint the assembled mailbox with grey paint and leave to dry.  Paint the stand with a thick layer of black gesso & use a heat gun to dry – the paint should bubble & create lots of texture.

Step 8:  

Using Tim Holtz “Rusty Hinge” Distress Stain, liberally apply it over the painted mailbox to give an aged “rusty” look.  Apply glue to random parts of the mail box and the stand and sprinkle with Twiddleybitz Rusting Powder.  Leave to dry.  Spray the rust with vinegar to start the rusting process.

Step 9: 

Glue the stand together and attach to the base of the mailbox.  Decorate the mailbox as desired.  I’ve used a leafy flourish that I’ve painted green & sprayed with Glimmermist, to which I’ve added a flower vine (I’ve wired together individual flowers, with the aid of florist tape & wire).  To age the Twiddley Alphas, I’ve embossed them with thick gold embossing powder and kept the heat on them at close range until they started to “burn”.  The butterfly has been embossed with a couple of different colours of embossing powder.

Add embellishments and you are done!