Teacher Toolbox (Printable)

Ok, so I know everyone finished their teacher toolboxes like forever and a half ago--but I wasn't really planning on decorating mine. You see, I am notoriously bad at spray painting. I really prefer to make everything on the computer...it comes out neat and clean and I can undo anything I don't like.

But I kept seeing these beautifully decorated teacher toolboxes EVERYWHERE I went...the blogs, Pinterest, Monday Made It. I couldn't escape the call to decorate it!

So I decided to keep it simple: black and white to go with my color scheme.

And I like seeing a bit of the content in the drawers, so I thought I would just decorate the little handles (this was the fun part!).

I printed, laminated, and sorted them...

Then hot glued them to each little drawer...

In the midst of all this, I vowed to actually spraypaint the box the right way. You know, a light coat first, then another one (following the directions on the can of how long to wait in between coats). And I did it! I painted three coats and it looked PERFECT! I was so, so proud of myself. I bragged to everyone within range about my painting skills.

This didn't last.

That evening, I hauled my little white toolbox inside. It was still a bit tacky, but I really wanted to put the drawers inside. So I tried the first drawer. It wouldn't fit in the box. I tried again and again. I thought, "maybe it's still too tacky." But I knew something wasn't right.

Well, after a few more tries (please don't laugh at me!) I figured it out. It was upside down. I had painted it the wrong way.

This wouldn't be a problem, except the bottom (or top, so perhaps I should say "the bottom in Kristen's world") had adhered to the newspaper and had various bits of articles stuck all over it. This hadn't bothered me before, but now this had to be the top!!

So, instead of waiting until the next day like a rational person, I rushed outside to finish it. But it was all too late. The sun was slipping behind the trees. The mosquitoes were converging. Various bits of plant life were blowing in the breeze and adhering instantly to the toolbox.

Suddenly, my old, familiar, impatient techniques had kicked in. Within 3 minutes, the entire thing was soaked and dripping and making those weird spider-webby things that always seem to happen to me when I spray paint (except in my perfect upside-down paint job this morning, of course).

(Look, I'm not even putting my blog name on this photo like I usually do because it's a mess!)

So. It is what it is. From far away, it looks alright and matches my room. Up close is another story. Let it be known, this is the day I have sworn off spray paint for good. It's all contact paper and hot glue from now on!

Anyhow, I am linking up my toolbox with all of the other lovely (nicely-painted!) ones that have been on...

Thank you Tara, I never would have had the guts to even make this if it weren't for your linky party!!!

And I do have a little file to share--just in case anyone else hasn't made a toolbox yet and would like to decorate the handles. It's in an editable Powerpoint file, so it just needs little textboxes with your label names on it. These labels are designed to fit this specific box--I got it from Lowe's. I hope someone can use it--someone who is much better spray painting than I am!!! :(

Click on the preview below for the file! :)