Fresh Bread Delivery

Did you know bread stays fresher in a breadbox than it does in the refrigerator? Wikipedia says so

This mailbox was rescued from the side of a formerly rural road where a huge condo development was getting started.

As explained in a previous post, under the previous government Canada Post was replacing individual mailboxes in rural areas with group boxes that area residents have to walk or drive to in order to get their mail.

I had been thinking for a while about using old mailboxes for kitchen storage, and in particular that they would make adorable bread boxes, but the ones I found were usually in such a state that there would be health concerns using them for food.

But this one was nice and clean inside – just needed a good wash and dry. (I would still only used for wrapped baked goods, but that is true of kitchen cupboards, as well).

I scrubbed it down, sanded off as much of the rust as I could, then mixed up a batch of  homemade chalk paint.

I wanted this project to be a gift of appreciation to a local organic bakery I have a lot of respect for (and several waistline inches!). I picked this blue paint that is very close to one of A Bread Affair’s corporate colours.

In between coats of paint (I rarely need more than 2, but this took 3), I played with signage.

As much as possible I like to create a unique look, so I blended lettering styles including the very traditional 2″ stationery store stencils and an oversized stylized “B” to give it a one-of-a-kind look.

For whatever reason, my traditional technique of using artist tracing paper to transfer the outline to the mailbox didn’t work so I retraced it onto a plastic sheet and created my own stencil.

  (I don’t know what I would do without Sharpies!)

I was so excited by the end result I started taking photos before the paint was dry.

Sharing: