What to give to a friend who has everything?

Last year, I had a house warming party to go to. I knew I was in a bit of strife as I had no idea what to buy for a present. What do you give a friend who has everything a house needs? (I knew my friend's collection of practical goods and gadgets had started a long time ago!)

Instead of stressing and buying something last-minute (and then regretting it later), I decided I would create something that my friend would enjoy, as she'd always said how much she liked my art work. My "project brief" parameters were:

• this gift needed to be different - something her house didn't have
• it had to be pink.

Knowing this, I found myself wandering the art/craft shelves of Bunnings Warehouse late one Thursday night. In amongst all the pre-cut MDF craft wood items, I found a wooden tissue box cover. I've typically seen tissue box covers covered in arty/scrapbooking-type paper, or some sort of material, or crocheted in wool with perhaps a cupie-style doll on top. *shudders* I have thought when looking at these types of decorated covers that the tissue box underneath is better off being plain!

Again, I initially painted the tissue box cover with a base coat of acrylic white gesso - sanded down when dry. I find this really does help to keep the colours from seeping into the wood, maintaining their vibrancy.

I decided to paint a striped pattern, using Derivan's Matisse Structure acrylic paint colours "Titanium White", "Metallic Gold", "Magenta" and "Magenta Light". I varied the widths of the coloured stripes with the help of masking tape and a ruler. The beauty with using masking tape is that it keeps the painted colour in the area exposed, protecting the other spots covered by the tape. It also helps keep those stripes nice and straight! There were a few areas that needed touching up once the paintwork was dry, but that's to be expected.

I decided to embellish the front of the tissue box with three wooden hearts, one big, two small. I painted these using "Metallic Gold" and "Magenta". I also applied a Gel Medium to the front of each heart which gave a thick, buttery appearance. I'm still not sure how to use the Gel Medium properly or what its true potential is. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know!

I attached the hearts to the front of the cover using a hot glue gun. I have found that Bostix is the best when it comes to this type of glue.

To preserve the paint on the tissue box cover, I applied a couple of coats of Polymer Gloss Varnish.

And here's the finished product!

I'm pretty sure it satisfied the project brief! My friend was very happy with her gift!

Looking forward to completing the other tissue box covers that are in my craft cupboard at the moment!

Crafty Rach x