Designing a Vintage Glove Box

Happy Month of May Blog Friends

This month is beginning beautifully and I hope for you as well. 

The flowers are all in bloom here in my little Texas town and the weather warmer each day.

 Today I want to share how to paint and decorate a vintage glove box.

When I was growing up, my mother, grandmother and myself all wore pretty gloves to church.

These wonderful glove boxes were designed to hold and store gloves when not in use.

Today they are getting harder to find and when you do they are fairly expensive.

Over the years,

I have hand painted these boxes to reuse for keepsake boxes, wedding

treasures or old love letters.

Here are the steps to give them a makeover.

Starting out with the original light green satin fabric, 

I could see this treasure in a soft cottage creamy white 

with crocheted roses I made using bits and pieces of old crocheted lace.

With several coats of my signature white paint or chalk paint inside and out, the transformation begins.

I want to say, if you are ever painting on fabric to be worn, like a shirt for example, it is advisable to mix textile medium with your paint first using equal parts, medium and paint before painting on the fabric. 

This gives a soft movable feel to the finish. If not, the painted area would be like cardboard and not comfortable. 

Years ago, in the early 80's, when I started in business, I painted lots of clothing for customers on sweatshirts, denim shirts and the like. 

This step was important.

 It also makes the item washable which you would want.

Now moving along here is the box completely painted with several coats of paint.

Both inside and out are painted.

I usually speed up the drying time with a hair dryer. Can't wait to get to the real fun.

Now moving on, here is the progression of the vintage glove box.

Once dry inside and out.

I add a nice coat of brush on water based varnish to seal the paint

and make it easy to wipe clean and protect the surface from scratches etc.

 This is where the fun begins when embellishments are added.

I happened to create this one all in shades of white and creams, but the skies the limit here to what you can create with color and paint.

 For the leaves, I hand painted silk leaves in the same cottage cream. 

All the crocheted accents are vintage along with the lace ribbon.

 The vintage lace edging was used to form crocheted roses.

What do you think?

 Pretty? 

Remember you can do a lot with paint over fabric. 

With several coats of paint, drying time and patience, you can decorate a vintage glove box.

Next time you see one on a junkin trip and the price is right, don't pass it up.

It can be such a fun project.

Have a great weekend!

See you next time.

Celestina Marie

joining
Make It Pretty Monday
Roses of Inspiration