In my last post, I professed my love of all things Edgar Allen Poe, especially his poem The Raven.  I had purchased a Tim Holtz vignette coffin box previously and hadn't gotten around to using it yet (unusual, I know).  I was so inspired by my Poe themed shadowbox that I pulled out the coffin box and began planning.


Edgar Allen Poe's death is shrouded in mystery.  The cause of his death are disputed and the events leading up to his death are uncertain.  On September 27, 1849, Poe left Richmond, Virginia to return home to New York City.  But on October 3, he was found delirious in a Baltimore, Maryland tavern.  Poe appeared to be unkempt and wearing ill fitting clothes and shoes.  Poe was admitted to Washington College Hospital where he later died early on October 7.  No one knows how Poe ended up in Maryland as he was never coherent enough to explain what happened to him.  And all medical records, including a death certificate, have been lost, if they ever existed at all.  His own death is his final mystery.

I wanted to continue the theme of gothic elegance of the shadowbox reminiscent of the early Victorian era Poe lived in, but amp it up another 10 notches!  I had some lace appliqué left over from a Halloween costume project I created for my flute choir.  (Yes, flute choir is a thing, and we did a Halloween concert while dressed in costume!  I went as the Raven, of course!) I knew I wanted to use this lace appliqué on the exterior of the coffin box as it fit nearly perfectly.  The very edges of the upper corners of this triangle of lace hung over the sides just enough for me to use it as a way to secure the lid when closed.


I pulled out some black elastic and hand stitched a loop of elastic on each corner.  My plan was to attach brads to the side of the coffin to secure the loops of elastic over to secure the lid.  Next I began to plan what papers and embellishments to use, cutting out the pieces of paper I wanted to use and fussy cutting out a few elements from Tim Holt'z Materialize paper stash then distressing the edges lightly with Distress Ink.


Next I plotted where my brads would go and used my Micro Dremel tool to drill three holes on each side of the coffin for the brads to be inserted into.  I wanted to make sure that the brads were very secure as well so that I wouldn't have brads pulling through paper later.  I'm actually kind of sad that I didn't take photos of my process since I was super handy with my Dremel tool.  But oh well!


Next I painted the edges and corners of the coffin box with black gesso since they wouldn't be covered by papers, giving the whole piece a moody and dark look no matter what angle you view it from.  Then I glued the papers on the outside of the bottom part of the coffin box.  Then I used a pin to puncture the paper over the holes I drilled and inserted the brads.  I used my eyelet hammer tool's flat side to give the brad prongs a nice tap to make sure they were nice and flat before covering the inside of the bottom of the coffin box with paper.  I love that the Tim Holtz paper is thick enough that the prongs of the brads don't show through, even when you glue the papers down nice and flat over the box.

I then glued paper down on both side of the coffin lid then began planning the exact placement of all of my embellishments and fussy cut elements.  I used pliers to remove the pin on the back of a cameo and then dry brushed black gesso over the cameo to age it.  I did the same with a small resin frame and the plastic skeleton.


The skeleton wouldn't completely fit in the box standing up so I thought it would be great to cut his skull off and have him holding it in his hands so I used my Tim Holtz snips to cut it off.  Then I glued the skull between his hands using a thick gel medium and a dot of hot glue on each hand to hold it in place while the gel medium dried.  I also glued a Finnabar tiny tin heart to the skeleton's rib cage (a little shout out to Poe's A Tell-Tale Heart)!

I had fussy cut a picture of Poe from Tim Holtz's paper stash and framed it with the resin frame and glued it to the inside of the coffin lid, along with the cameo and a Tim Holtz cross and bones embellishment.  I also placed a black rhinestone swirl in the bottom of the coffin, just to add a little interest behind the skeleton.


On the coffin lid, I used a thick gel medium to glue down the lace, Tim Holtz gears and Finnabar tin heart.  I added a few orange Doodlebug mini pearls for a pop of color.  On the top sides of the coffin, I glued down some elements that I fussy cut from Tim Holt'z Materialize paper stash.  Then I added a loop hook to one side.  I used a vintage styled safety pin in a copper color to attach a key and a Prima faceted bead trinket.  On the other side I placed a puffy skull and crossbones sticker that came with a Halloween themed alphabet sticker set.


On top of the coffin, I glued a resin raven (love it!!!) and 2 white Prima flowers that I colored orange with Lindy's Stamp Gang starburst spray in Hag's Wart Orange plus an iridescent druzy stone.  To help prop up the coffin lid when open, I decorated a tiny vial from Tim Holtz using a fussy cut poison label from his paper stash, some jute twine around the neck of the bottle and a bead glued to the cork.  I filled the bottle with microbes and then glued the cork in.  I also added a little locket from Prima that I strung on the twine.  Inside the locket, I glued some fussy cut elements from Tim Holtz's paper stash.  As a finishing touch, I glued down some 1/4 inch black grosgrain ribbon to the edge of the coffin lid to give it a finished look befitting of the lace appliqué on top.


Products Used
Tim Holtz: Idea-ology - vignette coffin box, materialize 8x8 paper stash, regions beyond fasteners, brown bottles, sprocket gears, crossbones; Distress Ink - spiced marmalade, black soot | Prima: Mechanicals - tin hearts; Marion Smith - vintage trinkets; Rodanthe - seaboard | Lindy's Stamp Gang: Starburst Spray - hag's wart orange | Doodlebug: Mini Pearls - tangerine assortment | American Crafts: Jute Twine - persimmon | Imaginisce: Ribbon Cutter | Ranger Ink: Glossy Accents (as adhesive) | Golden: Heavy Gel - gloss | Recollections: Vintage Keys; Druzy Stones - iridescent; Microbeads - black | Offray: Grossgrain - black 1/4" | Maker's: Halloween Littles - crow | Other: black lace appliqué, black elastic cord, mini skeleton, glass bead, hot glue


I hope you enjoyed the detailed photos of this little coffin box as much as I enjoyed making it!

Happy Crafting,
Adrienne