diy-watercolor-box

A bright colorful diy watercolor box made as a labor of luv 🎨👩🏿‍🎨

These hands decorated a prettyful gouache watercolor box

Contents ~~~~

My Paul Reubens watercolors arrived sooner than I expected. I am so excited to use them. But first I need to replace the colors in the metal tin with my gouache paints. 👍🏿

 

I bought a wire brush and a burnisher from Amazon because I thought I would need both. 

 

I’ve never used a metal tin before, so I was worried taking it apart would expose sharp edges. A burnisher would soften them. 

 

Turns out it was super easy taking apart the extra flap. All I had to do was use a thumbtack to poke the hole and the hinge and the little Rod came out. 📌📌So now if I ever wanted to reattach it I could. But I don’t wanna.😅

 

Burnisher wasn’t needed, but the wire brush did come in handy. 

 

When you buy a paleto that isn’t porcelain or wax based, you kinda have to scuff the service. A wire brush helps because the scuffing makes it so that the paint doesn’t bead up. 

 

I also had to use some paint splotches and let them dry on the mixing area. Paint beads less when it attaches to more pigment. Just another reason to have a messy paleto. 🥰🎨

 

After I fixed the paint beading issue, I decided to decorate the pink tin. While I do like the pink tin, I just wanted it to look more me. I chose the Paul reubens over some of the other empty tins because I wanted watercolor paints, but also I read a lot of negative reviews on the empty tins I saw. 

 

Paul Reubens had positive reviews all around.

What I used to decorate my metal tin watercolor box

I was inspired by the frugal crafter to decorate my tin. 🤗 Up until that point I didn’t know you could customize tins. I never bought one because I didn’t want a plain looking one. 

 

I wanted something that makes me happy!💚💜💛💙🧡💜❤️💖

 

She used alcohol inks, but the only alcohol inks I have are in the form of markers, so I used those. 🖊️🌈 I also used nail polish to create unique textures. 💅🏿 Nail polish also assures me that the inks won’t smear off. 

 

I went with a floral pattern because spring is one of my favorite seasons. 🌺🌻 Also flowers are super colorful which match my aesthetic. 🌼

 

This was an ambitious project. 😪 I didn’t realize how long it would take to paint the tin, but it took about two days. 😴

 

Here are some things I noticed while painting:

Time to create a tray for my watercolor decor box

Once I finished painting the tin, I removed the inside tray and got to work on creating my own tray. 👩🏿‍🎨

 

My first tray was made with glue gun sticks, but it didn’t work so well. 😅😅

 

It only laid down temporarily. I didn’t put glue on the edges that touched the metal enamel on all sides, so the colors were running into each other. When I tried to fix it, the whole thing came apart. 😱

So I reglued everything, this time making sure I got the edges. But after all those layers dried, it came apart. 😳 

 

I should’ve remembered that glue gun and metal don’t mix. So I call this skeleton structure a gluegun ribcage. 🦴 🦴🦴

 

After a bit of googling I found out that caulking adheres to metal. They suggested I use a caulking gun, but I didn’t have one. 

 

This time around I neatly spaced out the Wells. I could’ve fit twelve, but I wanted two large white Wells. Though I may be replacing zinc white and just sticking with Titanium in the future. 🧐

 

With that done, I used several layers of caulk. I then let it dry for about four days. 😴 I suggest getting a caulk gun because this was so tedious with my hands. 

Let's try adding the colors once again 🧡💜💛💙

When that finished I moved my colors back into the wells. I got blue all over my hands which means i worked on art that day, haha! 💙💙💙 Paint all over me means I had a good time. 🤣

 

To get the colors to stay in the pan without cracking, use a little bit of glycerin. It helps so much. 🥰 Don’t use a ton though because the more you add, the more watercolor-like the gouache becomes. I recommend about three drops. 

That was basically it! 😇👼🏿 I truly luv my tin. It makes a statement and makes me smile whenever I use it. 😍👩🏿‍🎨 If you have any questions about the process feel free to comment on this blog article.

 

What diy projects have you worked on thus far?

Video timestamps ~~~

00:00 theme song and intro

2:55 unboxing

14:08 materials

17:44 painting the back of the tin

22:09 painting the front of the tin

27:00 my chaotic workspace

38:30 outro and Bible verses

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