My Personalized Wood Tarot Boxes!

quiet0ne

Hello everyone, first post! I’ve been lurking for a few months here at ATF. In all that time I haven’t seen anything quite similar to a project I completed for myself in November, so I thought I would share.

I only have three decks: Waite-Smith, Morgan-Greer, and Osho Zen. I love all three, and they get a decent amount of use. Yet, I hated the boxes! The flimsy little cardboard boxes that my WS/M-G decks came in were getting awful beat up. I always had an awful time getting them back IN the box once out. Osho’s packaging is nice for the shelf but bulky. As someone who loves to take a deck with me whenever I’m a friend’s house, the original boxes were inadequate for my tastes. I’m also a bit of a klutz (understatement here) and I was always terrified of hurting the decks, even in their box. I needed a TANK to protect them in.

So I looked for wooden boxes. It’s surprising the little amount of variety I found! I’m not pagan/Wiccan/whatever, nor am I terribly big on Celtic knot work. Those preferences eliminated every ready-made box I came across. I decided that if I were to have a wooden box, one that matched the vision in my head, I’d have to customize my very own. After digging to what felt like the very bottom of the internet, I finally found a suitable site with the perfect size of raw, unfinished wooden boxes. Huzzah!

One weekend later, here are the results. I’m very happy with them, despite being painfully obvious that I’m no master with varnish. They look great on the shelf, feel great to handle, and still fit neatly in my purse or backpack to come along on trips.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y149/quiet0ne/Tarot Boxes/tarot_box_set.jpg - all three boxes

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y149/quiet0ne/Tarot Boxes/morgan-greer_2.jpg - Morgan-Greer

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y149/quiet0ne/Tarot Boxes/osho_zen1.jpg - Osho Zen

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y149/quiet0ne/Tarot Boxes/RWS_3.jpg - Waite-Smith

http://s4.photobucket.com/albums/y149/quiet0ne/Tarot Boxes/ - additional photos, including pictures of the raw boxes and the materials I used for each one.


Props go to the store I bought these from. Very friendly, fast shipping, and excellent packaging. The wood has great potential, very soft but generously portioned, with a fine grain. I’m sure someone with more talent can make some truly beautiful boxes for their collection. I’m afraid they ship only to the US or Canada, though. Here’s their website. They even have a small collection of ready-made tarot boxes available!
http://www.worldofboxes.com/unfinished/unfinished.htm
[if it’s against rules to post this sort of link, I’ll remove]
 

tarot4fun

Hello quiet0ne!
Welcome to AT! :D

Your boxes turned out beautiful and the decks look great inside them!

Blessings~
Suz :heart:
 

dadsnook2000

A bit of background on Tarot Boxes

Two years ago I launched a web-site offering wooden tarot boxes and chests, as well as accessories (bookends, business card holders, etc.) that had hand carved and painted tarot card figures from popular decks mounted on them. Lots of interest and encouragement, no actual orders.

The only impression that came out of a year of giving away prizes and trying to provide people with something unique was that Tarot-people will spend lots of money on decks, very little on books, and nothing on anything else. Brutal assessment, but that is the truth.

Your boxes are nice. One problem with selling this sort of product is that it costs a lot to ship them. It also costs to buy raw materials, and if your doing this you should deserve some reasonable return for your time and skills. Its hard to sell products into this market. Dave
 

quiet0ne

Thanks Suz and Dave!

I'm sorry to hear about your experience with crafting boxes, Dave. How interesting that there was so little demand... it'd explain how much trouble I had in finding stuff, though.

I also agree with the price. As much fun as I had making these boxes, they're definitely not realistic for me to try and sell for a profit. Each raw box was ~$10 USD, and the extra stuff to finish each one cost quite a bit more. If I ever need to make some more, I'm gonna do some research into cheaper varnishes and whatnot.

[quiet0ne]
 

Abrac

Thanks for posting quietOne. I've been doing a bit of box making myself lately and it's enjoyable to see what others are up to.

Great job, keep it up!
 

willowfox

The original paper boxes that the cards come in are horrible, they don't seem to last five minutes before they tear. I like your wooden boxes very much but I am just not capable of doing anything with wood at all, and as for painting/varnishing, never. So, I can only go with the tarot bags.
 

quiet0ne

Thanks abrac and willow! I'm afraid I'm not that great with wood, either. I wasn't even sure I could do this little project, honestly! I only got the varnashing bit down by the third box, which was my Osho one. I love how that one turned out. My WS one is kinda too gray, I was hoping it'd look more.. driftwood-y. Ah well!

and oo, those are very nice boxes that blue_fusion made. I'm afraid I'm not quite THAT crafty. It'd wind up looking like those collages kids do in kindergarten. :)

[quiet0ne]
 

SarahRose

They're really nice!
 

SixDegrees

It took me a little while to realize it, but I already own a box from this company (the pre-made Fool box offered on the website). It's wonderful...the box shuts tight enough to feel secure, but not enough to ever feel like it is sticking. Wonderful fabric inlay too. If anyone is wondering, these are totally worth the money!