Hot dogs, apple pie and ....what else evokes the spirit of the USA for you? I asked a group of my friends that very question and came up with a lot of great answers...some surprising, some unique, all very Americana. Taking those ideas, I decided to build a shrine to the Land That I Love.
Cigar box shrines can be very freeing projects...there really are no rules. Take the ideas here and make this project your own. The first step is to visit your local cigar store...they usually have a pile of these boxes, either in the back room, or on display, and will sell them to you for anywhere between $1 and $5, depending on the construction of the box. Some stores might even give them to you! The wooden boxes are usually far more appealing to me for use in these projects as they will stand open nicely for display purposes and they look more elegant than the cardboard boxes.
When I start one of these projects, I tend to think about my theme a lot and keep my eyes open wherever I go for elements that can be a part of the final product. Go through your stash of found items, collecting treasures that match the theme you’ve chosen. Scour your local hardware, dollar, craft stores for cheap or fun items that fit your theme also. This is the fun part! You may not use everything you collect, but you’ll come up with a good store of items to choose from when you begin creating your shrine. When I started this project, I had a project box full of magazine photos, rhinestone stars, tiny flags, stamps and other items that matched my theme.
The best thing about this shrine is that you are free to Be Random! I tend not to sand or prep these boxes in any way because I’m impatient and just want to get to the art! Sometimes the labels on the boxes will peel off easily...save those for other collage projects...and sometimes I paint right over them. You can take off the hinges and clasps if you want, but I usually leave them on ...again, out of sheer impatience... I’ll paint around them when working with the box.
Choose a color for your base coat...I tend to use white as I usually have a lot of that on hand...for this box, I chose Buttermilk in case I ended up not covering parts of the box with other colors or collage or other items. As you can see, I start with a general idea and then just go with whatever the muse offers me as I work. Give the box a couple of coats...just enough coverage until you’re happy with it. I usually let this happen over the course of a couple of days to make sure the paint is good and dry.
Once the base coat makes you happy, you can begin creating your shrine. This process can take me anywhere from a week to a month or so, depending on my moods and time constraints. I’ll paint a portion here, let it dry, glitter a spot there, lay out a few collage items and let them sit until I rearrange them a few days later. I look at the project every day and live with it until it’s where I like it. I usually create these as a commissioned work or as a gift for a friend or family member, so I spend a lot of time thinking about the recipient and incorporate their favorite colors, likes and passions into the shrine. This particular shrine will be donated for auction to raise money for the Avon Breast Cancer Walk, so I’d like it to be as attractive and appealing to as many people as possible. In fact, the final photo you see here may not actually be the final product, as I’ll probably find more dollhouse miniatures to add to the inside, or I might glitter the front cover more.
The most important thing to remember is that this project should bring you joy, stretch your mind and make you want to jump out of bed in the morning (or stay up late at night) just to work on it. Have fun!
