Japanese tea box

As soon as I tell my self to cut back and not get involved with any more things, I go and coordinate a huge Tea box decorating class. What was I thinking!? It was a lot of work to plan and organize, but when the day came to actually do it, it was a blast! So Japanese tea boxes are found at thrift stores and are these wooden boxes that are super old. They are more like antiques because they date back from anywhere from 30-100 years old. They used to be popular in Japan and would hold and transport tea, but now, obviously, Japan is more modernized and these wooden tea boxes are not used. 

I really wanted to find and decorate one of these boxes, and asked if anyone else wanted to join me in the squadron. I wasn't expecting to get the response that I did cause over 10 ladies said they wanted to   find and decorate these tea boxes with me. SO once again, I was put in charge of organizing the process. The first step meant we needed to go thrift store hunting. Luckily we all found some boxes in varying sizes at a thrift store in the nearby town called Schischinohe. Then we went to Manami san's store (the cutest little Japanese lady that has a craft store right outside the main gate and also sales Japanese crafts at the BX) to ask if she and her mother could teach us how to decorate the tea boxes. They agreed, so we all picked out and bought beautiful washi paper from her store and set up a date for them to teach us and walk us through the process.

It was a two day process where we did the bottom layer, or background color of washi paper the first day, and then the decorative paper on top the second day. It was quite the process of cutting and gluing the paper with special rice glue. I am so sold on this rice glue stuff! It's like modge podge, but way better, and the finish makes it look like there is no glue or finish at all. 

It was a fun two days of a bunch of us ladies from the squadron talking, bonding, and crafting together, all while Manami san taught us a new skill. I think all the boxes turned out great, but of course I am biased and LOVE the way my box turned out. I plan to make it a blanket chest and store my many quilts that I make in it while the box is on display in our family room. When I look at the box it will always remind me of my time here in Japan, and will always bring a smile to my face knowing the journey we took to find, clean, and decorate these beautiful tea boxes.

I am in denial knowing that next week my baby turns 1!!!!! How did that happen? I can't believe how fast this year has gone, and honestly feel like it was yesterday that I had him. I sure love my little chubby boy, and he is such a perfect addition to our family. He loves snuggles, bottles, his stuffed animal giraffe named Gerald, and playing with his brother and sister. He always tries to keep up with the older two, and is the fastest little crawler I have ever seen. Hopefully he will start walking soon cause I would love for him to start walking by our Bali trip, or at least by the end of the year.