Zeldathon Donation Items: Deadline Met

I was recently approached by an organizer from the video game charity Zeldathon about donating a few Zelda-themed prizes for their upcoming event. Hearing nothing but nice things about their organization and the people involved, I readily agreed.  The deadline to have everything submitted was November 15, and we made the cutoff (despite a few bumps in the shop).

One of the items I created was surprise! Not a pen! I wanted to switch it up and try something different. I had made a heart piece trinket tray in the past (along with a rupee tray) for other endeavors, but I had some Cedar wood from, of all things, a fence picket lurking on my bench that needed a purpose. Yes, a fence picket. Folks in Texas love them some fences.

This piece of picket had been bedeviling me for a few weeks (I'll get to it, I'll put it in the stack, I'll make something from it) until I decided on making a wee box from it. I surfaced the Cedar and cleaned it up and decided on a sliding lid design.

For the heart design, this particular heart piece is from the Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. I like the filigree heart piece design in this game; I find it visually interesting and fancy. I originally had the heart filigree with a bit of a frame around it, but it looked...weird on this small box. I axed the frame and put just the filigree bit on the box lid, and I like how it turned out. The heart is also made from Cedar (not birch or ply). I had to be very careful when sanding it and cleaning it up before mounting it to the lid, as some of the pieces are very small.

Once the wee box was all put together, I finished it with a few coats of lacquer. I was a little concerned the lacquer would gum up how the lid fit, since this is a pretty small box, but it all came together quite nicely.

I hope this little box serves the Zeldathon folks well, and that whomever receives it crams it full of little treasures!