Several months ago we came across two small pieces of rare Paulownia at a regional lumber yard.  We brought them home with us and they sat in our workshop until very recently, waiting for the right idea to come along.  When we were reorganizing some items and the Paulownia came into view alongside a set of salvage thread spools from a different trip, the whole idea fell into place--a treasure box incise carved with circles and washed in a thin acrylic green to pick up the circle pattern and natural patina on the thread spools.  

The original Paulownia pieces were an inch thick and fairly small, so to have enough wood for a properly sized box, we resawed one piece to form 4 half inch thick sides.  The bottom and top remain one inch thick.   The sides and top were then carefully incise carved with a circle pattern--not the easiest task as Paulownia wood is extremely soft and thus offers no resistance to carving tools, making it quite easy for them to catch in the large, open grain and mar the wood.  We drilled holes in the bottom in which to attach the vintage thread spool legs, and because the spools featured chrome colored metal, we went with that theme for the rest of the box hardware--the hinges are chrome colored and so are the upholstery tacks used to quilt the box interior.  The box was then finished with a spray on satin lacquer that matches the natural/vintage sheen of the thread spool legs.  

The case of the box itself measures about 15" long x 7" high x "7 deep, and with the 8" legs attached, the total height is about 15".  This box is made of very lightweight Paulownia that dents and dings easily.  It is meant for light duty and can be easily damaged with rough handling.