Pottery Barn Inspired Typeface Canister Knock-Off

By: Diy maven Jul 07, 2010

created at: 07/07/2010

Last week I was perusing Pottery Barn when I spotted an 'etc.' Typeface Canister for the bath. I picked it up, checked the price--on sale for about 9 bucks--and put it into my shopping basket. As I continued to ogle PB's inventory, it occurred to me that my bathrooms have tile floors. One bump and this canister was going to turn the place into a Greek restaurant. Sadly, I returned the canisterto its spot and went on my way. Then, a second thought occurred to me. I had an inexpensive wooden box at home that I had purchased at the craft store MONTHS ago that was still waiting to be pimped out. Ah yes, the box would become my PB knock-off.

↓ Continue reading

This project was super simple and, as luck would have it, I had everything I needed on hand. Here's what I used.

a wooden box (mine's about 4" in diameter)
'etc' either pre-purchased or cut out of black paper with a paper-shaping contraption (I used my Cricut and Doodletype cartridge)
Mod Podge
black grosgrain ribbon
white acrylic craft paint
clear polyurethane
craft glue
small paint brush

First, I painted the box with a couple of coats of white acrylic.

created at: 07/07/2010

Then I cut out my letters and Mod Podged them into position. Here's a hint when decoupaging black letters/paper onto a white/light surface: 'seal' the paper first with a coat of Mod Podge, let dry and THEN glue them onto your object. This will prevent black paper 'dust' from getting all over your nice light background. It will also prevent a barrage of obscenities. Just make sure to put the stuff to be sealed on a bit of wax paper when you seal it; the decoupage won't stick to it, just the letters.

created at: 07/07/2010

A few coats of poly and then a length of grosgrain ribbon glued around the rim of the cover and ta-da. A tile-friendly, PB inspired canister to store etc.

Tagged : decoupage, canister, bathroom, typeface, DIY

2739 views | Comments (8)

Add a comment

Comments

Chris--Yup. The Cuttlebug--the hand crank contraption that also embosses--uses dies. The Cricut is completely electronic.

Sure Cuts A Lot looks pretty incredible.

So, a Cricut can work two ways? One, you can put in an electronic cartridge (not a die), and it gets the details from that, or you can hook it up to your computer (USB), and run the special software?

Chris--That sentence should have included "....close to what you're looking for."

Chris-- I don't even want to think about what you went through to complete that project. Yeesh. The Circut (Provocraft) sells cartridges specifically for the machines that cut specific designs/fonts. However, there's a product out there called Sure Cuts A Lot that allows the user to cut True Type fonts and imports SVG files. Price start at about 80 and goes up to 95. I have a personal-sized Cricut which can accommodate sheets up to 6" x 12" and cut images from 1" to 5 1/2". I think it cost about 120 bucks, but you can find them for as little as 85 bucks these days. The larger model called the Expression handles sheets up to 12" x 12", which means it can cut up to 11 1/2". That's more expensive, like around 300 bucks. So, determining what model to buy depends upon what you're going to use it for. I'm not a scrap booker so the smaller size was perfect. (Scrap books are generally 12" x 12".) You can also find this model for less. If you're interested, just keep a look out in Michael's and JoAnn's ads, especially as we approach the fall. They go on sale then big time. If you're courageous, black Friday can REALLY get you a good deal. I've seen Walmart ads featuring the smaller model for as little as 65 bucks or so. SO....200 to 400 bucks SHOULD get you what you're looking for.

Wow! You guys are really knowledgable about cutter thingys.

No judgment at all! I just know you gotta license 'em, so I figured most would have special proprietary fonts.

I recently had to trace and cut 256 characters of Gil Sans Ultra Bold on 12 x 12 cardstock at work (transparency --> overhead --> pencil --> scissors method), and I just kept thinking...don't they make things to do this? I know the Cricut is an electronic cutter, can it read vector files? You'd think make they'd make a big X/Y plotter that can read SVGs with exchangeable stylii - pen, marker, blade, etc. Now THAT I would buy...provided it's, you know, NOT $5,000.

Chris--Is that judgement I hear in your tone?? ;) Actually, there are quite a lot of cartridges to choose from. A fraction, however, as many as your MacBook has. Some fonts are cutesier than others. I'm not a big fan of those. I just finished a project (post to come) with a cartridge called Printing Press that has a great eclectic look. Kind of ransom-note-y. BTW, the Cricut is an electronic cutting machine, the Cuttlebug is a hand crank contraption, which also cuts but also embosses to perfection. Provocraft came out with a new product just recently called the Cricut Cake that cuts various edible materials like gum paste and frosting sheets. Very cool.

Cricut Cake Kitchen, Red