1/10/14

Neatness counts

Remember my place by the sofa that got cleaned up just before the holidays?  The place where I sit and sew.  And, pile things,

It was never going to stay neat. 

My Mom gave me a bag of things she wanted me to have when I was there.  One of them was this cedar box that she got from a furniture company when she graduated high school.

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When I got it home and got it unpacked, I realized it was the perfect box to help me confine things on my table and maybe I could keep it a bit neater, a bit longer.  That brass bucket in the background is my trashcan.

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I made a pincushion out of the dog fabric that my friend Barb shared with me and I filled it with ground walnut shells.  And, it was too big and I emptied it and cut it and sewed it and filled it and it was too big and I emptied…you get the idea.  It took a couple of tries to get a pincushion that would exactly fit the box.  I added a pair fo scissors, a seam ripper, wax disc in a tin, some needles and a thimble and I’m all set.  And, when I’m done, I just close the box.

Everybody have a great Friday.  Tomorrow is the first bee of the new year.

Lane

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have one of those boxes!!! I think people of a certain age got them for high school graduation from the local furniture store. I wonder where mine is..... ;-)

sewandsow said...

I have that box too... and I got it when I graduated from high school. It has just sat on the shelf for years. Thanks so much the the idea.

Anonymous said...

Looks like the box was meant to be yours! I see the name LANE printed on the inside of the lid.
(Just because it's also the name of the company that made it doesn't count.)
Barb

Auntie Em said...

Yep, got one of those boxes for high school graduation too, and I still have it. Looks like it makes a really great sewing kit, and I love your pin cushion.

Lee Ann L. said...

Ohhh, that is a cedar Lane box! They were often given out to high school graduates back in my day from the local Finger's furniture store (which is no longer there). I somehow managed to land two of them when I graduated. Fingers gave me two by mistake which suited me fine. (I had received a postcard and redeemed it for a box. Two months later, I received another postcard and redeemed that one too.)

By the way, I adore and collect these boxes. I can recognize one from practically across a store. LOL. I recently purchased one for $12 from an antique store which is not a bad price for one in good condition. And this one included the key! LOL. Many of these boxes are valued and sold for over $25.00

If my memory serves me correctly, I think I have about a dozen of these, give or take 2 or 3. A few are quite different in style from this popular (or common) one. I used to use them at our old home on the stairs showcasing things. But now, I am planning to stage and use them around my new room once it is finished because we do not have stairs at this new home.

I suppose I should do a blog post on these boxes I collect someday.

Thank you for sharing this with us all!

lindaroo said...

Great use of the box, and very clever of you to kit up your tools so nicely. The pincushion is charming!

lw said...

I also have a Lane cedar box from Kroeler's Furniture from my senior year. I only know one person who actually bought a cedar chest, so I think that's why they ended this promotion.

Love the pincushion!

Michelle said...

I got one of those boxes when I graduated too!

Unknown said...

I got that same box too, when I graduated HS in 1982! Not sure where it is now, or if I even still have it - BOO!

Elizabeth said...

Hey, I have one of those boxes. I'm, at this very moment, using it as a foot stool. It is filled with old photos from High School and my tassel and graduation announcement. But I like your idea better!

xo -E