Chalkboard Sewing Box Makeover

Who remembers Caboodles? Any of you girls who grew up in the 90s should know exactly what I’m talking about! They were those fun little boxes you kept all your scrunchies, glitter lip gloss and slap bracelets in. I had the Barbie Caboodle. It was 90s pink and purple and I loved it. Unfortunately, it become a sad victim of my teenage years. I was super cool and punk rock (aka totally not cool) so this little box was drug through both a sharpie phase and a bumper sicker phase – poor little guy!

Unfortunately, there was just no way to save it without some sort of paint (sad!).

After scrubbing it down and removing all remaining stickers with goo-be-gone I let it dry for a while. Then it was just a matter of a few coats of chalkboard spray paint (no matter how “trendy” this stuff has become I still love it!), making sure it completely dries between coats.

Now it’s the perfect little sewing box! Plus I can write myself little notes and keep track of what I’m planning on making right on the box:)

Happy Monday everyone!

  1. Totally wish I’d kept mine now!

  2. How adorable! I used to adore my caboodles… I’m pretty sure I had the exact same one, haha

  3. I am obsessed with chalkboard paint! So amazing what a little bit can do! This looks great!- Sam
    DIYhuntress.blogspot.com

  4. anna.macdonald89@gmail.com says:

    I remember you then. And me. It’s amazing what time can do. lol. Your blog is the prettiest ever. <3

  5. Anonymous says:

    It is so funny how much we’ve all changed:) thank you so much lovely lady!

  6. Josie, I am enjoying my first visit to your blog (been camped out in the DIY section)! LOVE what you’ve done with this case … brilliant! Never thought of painting my Caboodles case; but, you’ve taken yours from hot pink Barbie to chic! Now, lightbulbs are going off in my head. I have two metal, two-drawer, card catalog drawers I thrifted that I plan to paint bronze, mushroom or deep olive … my Caboodle case can be painted to match them. Or maybe dark eggplant to match my translucent, plastic drawer unit where thread, crochet needles, etc. are stored. Hmmm. :-)What a wiiiild Twilight-Zone-coincidence running into this post … l.o.v.e. i.t. I was like “That cute tackle box is shaped like my ancient Caboodles case! WAIT! That IS my case … super-souped up! Chalkboard paint?! Get out! She can write on it, too?!”. Then, “Hold up! Annnnnd, she’s using it as a sewing kit just like I always have?!!!” My jaw hit the floor!!!! LOL I received my pink one (without the Barbie logo) ages ago as an adult from a dear relative who knew I was looking for a sewing case with trays & compartments.
    Note: Please forgive me if my comment was submitted twice. I clicked the Preview button after typing my comment & my comment disappeared … no Preview appeared & no explanation or error message appeared. So, I hit the Back button in hopes that my comment was still here (which it is) and am about to just click the Post button since I cannot preview it.

  7. Josie, I’ve never painted anything plastic like this before. Please answer a few questions:How many coats of spray paint did you use?
    How long did you allow it to dry between coats?
    Did you just spray paint it whole or did you dismantle the whole case & paint each part?
    Did you avoid painting certain areas like the “hardware”/ moving parts (i.e., lock, hinges, handle prong/bolts, etc.) so the paint won’t hinder opening, closing, etc.?

  8. Anonymous says:

    This was done so log ago I’m not possitive how many coats I did, I think only 2 or 3, but either way it will depend on your own box and also what color your box is and what color your choosing to paint it. There’s not a specific amount of time to wait between coats, you just want to make sure the last coat you did is completely dry before doing another.The only part I took out to paint seperately is the tray that sits on the inside, besides that the whole thing stayed together.
    Nope! spray paint won’t hinder something opening. However, I did leave it open while spray painting, and I would recommend doing the same (although you can’t get the inside without doing that so that’s pretty obvious)

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