Typeface drawer inspiration?

We’re smack in the middle of packing for ANOTHER move (this will be the 3rd in a year, but hopefully our last one for a while), so what a great time to pick up another project, right? Or not. Hopefully the finish deadline isn’t until….July. And hopefully we’re settled in a new house by then and I have plenty of time to complete it.

Our local museum is having a fundraiser for themselves (it’s a free museum) and Operation Backpack, a program that provides shelf-stable weekend food for kids that need sustenance.

They are taking “found objects”, seen here, and members of the community are painting them for resale/auction at the annual community summer celebration weekend. The newspaper is taking before and after photos of everything. With a degree in news-ed journalism, I have a soft spot for newspapers and picked up this typesetting drawer.

It was once used to store letters for setting the printing press, probably in a piece that looked like this:

 

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So…..what should I do with it? Scrub it and do a clean spray paint job?

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This is kinda cutesie, but is it useful? My first inclination was to use old newsprint as backing for the compartments and seal with modge podge. Kind of reminiscent of its original purpose. I think it could look cute with old wooden-looking letters spelling out a last name……but that’s not going to work if it’s sold to some random person at an auction, huh? I thought about including some inspiration photos for the sale, but I keep coming up with jewelry boxes.

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And I feel like there’s a lot of other inspiration for jewelry boxes and these compartments are a little big. So I’m not sold on the idea.

This person used paint swatches to color the back of her try.

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This is pretty schnaz, but where I’m going to get the letters? I’ll check EBay.

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Whatever I decide to do with this drawer, I secretly hope it becomes mine at the sale.

Any ideas friends?!