Making a Memory Chest

My daughter Annie got married in Edinburgh, Scotland, at the beginning of summer. 

 She stayed at a beautiful old inn/castle called Prestonfield House. The people there were so gracious to her and went above and beyond to make her day special. 

 Annabelle and her new husband then spent the next two weeks touring Scotland. They had originally planned to spend a week in Scotland and a week in Ireland. Once they saw Scotland though, they were smitten and decided to spend most of their two weeks visiting the Scottish Highlands. They did make it to Ireland for a few days, but have plans to go back and spend time there. Annie had vacationed in Ireland before, so she was happy to stay in Scotland. 

 I bought this cute little miniature chest from my good friend The Picker. This little three-drawer chest is sitting on our kitchen island in the picture, if that helps you with the scale of the piece. Aren't little things always so cute? 

 I have no idea what it was originally used for. My guess would be jewelry, or maybe flatware, or perhaps cloth napkins?  I really don't have a clue. Maybe you all know. Regardless, I knew I wanted to doctor it up and give it to Annie for a "memory chest". I figured she could store special mementos of her wedding and Scottish honeymoon in the drawers. 

 I used a sample drawer of Cece Caldwell's chalk paint in Nantucket Spray. The white on the piece is Old White from Annie Sloan. 

 I knew I wanted to put the words "Edinburgh" and "Prestonfield House" on the drawers. 

 I debated about putting their wedding date on the third drawer, but I wanted the piece to look like perhaps Annie had brought it back from Prestonfield House. In that case, it would not have the wedding date on a drawer! 

 I intentionally put the words right through the middle of the crystal knobs. I wanted it to look old and like the words had been put on there long ago. I did not want the piece to look "planned". 

 I painted the entire piece in the ASCP Old White first, then I went over the drawers and the inset side pieces in the Nantucket. I finished the piece off with Minwax in mahogany. 

 I wanted the colors to be mellow, so they could blend in to Annie's house for years to come. 

 The little drawers are the perfect size to store maps, coins, pictures, dried wedding flowers and small souvenirs from their Scottish wedding and honeymoon. 

 I lined the three drawers with three different maps. There is a map (section) from Oklahoma, Kansas and Scotland. I wanted the three maps to represent how a Kansas/Oklahoma girl could end up having her dream wedding at a castle in Scotland. 

 I have no idea where Annie will put this in her house. I just want her to think about her Scottish holiday---and smile---every time she sees the words on the memory chest. 

 The little piece was so cute, it was hard not to keep it! I love how it turned out though and what it represents. 

 Just in case you are wondering, I did not write those words free-handed. I bought some stick on letters (in a cute frilly font) at Hob Lob and stuck them on the drawers after I had painted the Old White. I then painted the Nantucket paint over the top and pulled the letters back off. Easy-peasy!

Now it is Annie's job to fill this cute little mini-chest up!

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