Beeswax Crayon Caddy, WIP Wednesday

When I found this Green Arbor wooden herb planter at the hardware store I didn't think herb planter at all, but "ooooh, a beeswax crayon caddy!" And of course something else I could wood-burn!  It was on sale for $11.99 -perfect!  And I'll use the seeds and soil to plant in other pots.  We love beeswax crayons at our house and I wanted to find something to divide them into like colors so the colors won't rub off on each other. 

I started by sanding the caddy as it still had rough edges.  I used 150 & then 220 grit sandpaper.  Then I transferred a drawing onto the wood.  I printed out an image I wanted. On this side, I chose a few root children from "Story of the Root Children" by Sibylle Von Olfers. For the transfer I simply penciled in (with the side of a pencil) the entire back of the Illustration and then placing it where I wanted it on the caddy, traced the image.

Then I wood-burned over the pencil lines.  I often unplugged the wood-burner to cool it down a bit as I wanted more delicate lines. 

This is another one of our favorite parts of "Story of the Root Children". This was the first time I tried shading with the wood-burner.

I free handed this squirrel from a drawing I like out of my datebook.

Also a few toadstools on the opposite side.  I also added daisies to either side of the handle. 

Then I painted the inside of the caddy in watercolors to correspond to our crayon colors. I used tape to make clean lines.  There's red, yellow, blue & purple.  My purple came out a little pale. 

Then I painted select parts of the wood-burned illustrations.

The last step was beeswaxing the entire caddy inside & out.

And now we have a beautiful new crayon caddy!

Until next time...

Musings From the Fishbowl