Baby's Memory Box

A baby's memory box offers all manner of possibilities, as far as decoration is concerned.  I made this this one for my grand-daughter's Christmas present last year.

It took a while to find the right box: her mother wanted quite a large one and it needed to be robust, given that it will hopefully need to last at least one lifetime (I like to think of all my stuff as heirlooms!).  Papier-mache type ones were obviously out of the question and hardwood ones proved to be too heavy.

Eventually I found this plywood one at Ikea and, even though she could probably climb inside it now, it really fitted the bill.

I'd already made her cot quilt and bumper in a patchwork design, so thought it would be a good idea to copy one of the fabrics from those and paint it.  The logistics were easy - since it was flat-packed, I painted the panels separately before construction.  Quite a painstaking job but I enjoyed it and all concerned seemed really satisfied.

Let's hope this particular baby's memory box fills up with wonderful things!

I need to acknowledge Sandra, from The Crafts House (see link), here.  A wonderful woman who has encouraged me to develop my art skills over the years.