Five Little Tea Boxes

I love tea and tea boxes! I made these for the upcoming fair season (already sold one of these and one of the 3 I am still working on) and thought I’d post them here. Each box is approximately 7″ × 7″ with 4 compartments. In the past I was making them 3 1/2 inches high but I made an error and cut the sides at 2 1/2 inches high. Voila’ – a new and better model was born! The major difference is in proportion – I like the proportion of the 2 1/2 inch high boxes better – and in how you store tea bags – flat for the smaller box and upright for the old style box.

The first 2 are at 2 1/2 inches high. The wood combination is maple, walnut and purpleheart. The last 3 are the older model (#4 sold today) – the third one has 2 pivoting covers (I’m sure there is some fancy name for it but it’s just 2 pivoting covers to me). I used dowels covered with upholstery tacks on top to pivot the 2 sides of the top. One side is 1/2 inch maple and the other is a combination of wood at 3/4 inch thick. Actually, I looked in my scrap bin and came up with a combination for the cover! The fourth one is cherry and purpleheart with a turquoise inlay in the knots. The fifth one is my favorite (very Cape Coddy) – it is maple with a walnut undercover and live edge curly maple guitar stock – thin guitar stock so it fits nicely. I have a shell epoxied to the walnut and a little brass cleat for a handle.

All are finished with dewaxed shellac followed by 2 coats of General Poly.
Thanks for looking.
Ellen