Mary Shrine from an old Sewing Machine Drawer

I have a laundry list of projects that I have been working on trying to finish up now that I can get back to them, and one was the shrine for a beautiful Italian Mary statue that yes, I did get at a thrift store a few years back. My best friend mentioned that she had picked up a bunch of old sewing machine drawers and I asked if I could have one. It is exactly the right size to house Mary safely on the wall. The drawer was old with holes in the front and top, had a sticker stuck to it, and layers of varnish. It was a mess, but had amazing potential. I started by using WD-40 to get the old sticker off, washed the drawer and filled in the holes with wood filler. Once that was all set, a few rounds of elbow grease and course sandpaper did it's trick on the varnish, and wood filler. All the sides were now smooth and even, and ready to accept the paint. I used a sapphire blue metallic acrylic paint. It took almost five coats, but when the light hits it, it just gleams. It's the perfect color for Mary, don't you think?

I then had to figure out how to decorate the box itself. It deserved something simple, soft and pretty. I drilled two holes in the back inside (formally bottom of the drawer) in order to put the screws in later when it would hang on the wall. In order to cover those, I used a piece of matte board, cut to the size of the back (formally bottom) and covered it with batting and a beautiful snippet of a blue and white floral Waverly sample I've had sitting around. I taped the batting and fabric to the board and slipped it in. It pops out easily for quick removal from the wall if need be. Then it was onto the sides of the box. They were too plain, and the blue was a bit too intense. I picked up some white craft doilies, and glued those to the sides of the box. Then I used the same Waverly fabric to make different sized floral yo-yo flowers with a bead in the center. I'm very happy with how the whole thing turned out. Now I'm looking for a Buddha figure because I'm envisioning him in a box of his own, perhaps, I'm thinking, in copper!