You Got Mail

I may be dating myself by recalling the days when we would anxiously await the mailman's arrival, run downstairs to the garage, and grab the mail from the box that led to the outside slot. 

In those days,  before modern communication including Facebook, Twitter, texting and e-mails, we enjoyed old-fashioned snail mail.  I had a pen pal named Anne who lived on the other side of the country in Akron, Ohio.  Although we never met, we enjoyed several years of writing back and forth about whatever nine-year old girls wrote about in those days.  I recall letters that began, "Dear Doreen, Thanks for your last letter.  School is good.  My sister and I went to the park after school..."  You get the idea! 

I hadn't thought about Anne in decades until I came across this vintage metal mailbox at the flea market.  For less than $10, I saved it from obscurity.  Here is what it looked like:

Note the wonderful scalloped edges on the lid and the curvy rack at the bottom

(used to hold magazines and newspapers).

Time to transform its mundane exterior with a little paint and a whole lot of embellishments. 

First I decided on my color palette.

After a light sanding, I painted the exterior with light avocado (minus the tortilla chips).

This is my favorite part of the transformation: 

going through my stash and finding embellishments that will mix and match together.

Then I edged the papers with charcoal chalk ink

I painted chipboard scrolls that I later stamped with flourishes.

Adhered the paper with Plaid's Royal Coat antique decoupage finish.

Stamped vintage images on a pretty Paper Source label,

and adhered the label on the front of the mailbox.

Added quirky snaps on the scalloped lid, a chipboard bird holding a key (and the lock is hanging from the scroll), a few buttons, and a small flower and bling to the bird's tail.

Being the ribbon queen that I am,
I tied complementary ribbons in shades of green, cream and yellow,

using ribbons with varying textures and widths, to the magazine rack.

Then a chipboard label holder and two brads on top of the mailbox

with a label that reads "You Got Mail" finishes the project.

I'm happy with the result!  Now, what to use it for? 

My husband has a brilliant idea: 

we're going to hang it on our porch next to the front door
and use it for....mail!

P.S.  I'm going to try to re-connect with my pen pal, Anne.  I wonder if she's on Facebook! 

Linking to:
Funky Junk Spring Projects
Knick of Time
The Gunny Sack



The Project Queen Turning-the-daunting-into-the-do-able