Loose Leaf Tea Storage

As with many of my projects, this one started with an eye on reducing clutter. SWMBO is a collector of many things…many things. She enjoys loose leaf tea and has amassed several bags recently that were spending time all over the counter in the kitchen. I was looking for a quick project to occupy a few days and it seemed an easy fit. 

I had some thin sawn Russian Olive that’s I’d received during a trade (thanks Dave!) that I thought would fit the bill perfectly. He’d stabilized some of it with a pretty blue resin which gave a nice contrast. As olive is prove to splitting, I did some minor repair on one of the pieces then squared them up, leaving the live edge intact (although I did remove the bark). 

I’ve been enjoying simple butt joints pinned with contrasting metal as of late, and this seemed a good project for that as well. I fit up the sides, routed a thin recess across the bottom of all the sides to accept some 3mm walnut veneered ply that I had stashed away, and glued it all up!

I drilled and pinned the joints once the glue was solidly dry. This time I used some aluminum stock that I had. I used two different diameters, just to add a little contrast. Each joint was pinned with a friction fit, then the aluminum sawn off using a hacksaw blade. 

After pinning, I sanded down the nubs and blended the corners together.

I added a little script to the underside for posterity. 

Finished with simple Danish oil, which really bought out some nice color in the wood. The resin really pops too!

 
After it cured, it found its place in the kitchen…and is already at capacity. Oh well.