Vintage Style Christmas Spice Cabinet

I'm interrupting the weirdness of this blog for something slightly more traditional...a Christmas spice cabinet.

It all started about two weeks ago when I could not get into the Christmas Spirit, might have been the Black Friday or the Cyber Monday thing, they sound so "festive" don't they? The feeling of warmth and excitement over the approaching season just refused to show up. I was worried...not like me...at all.

So I tried a few things to try to get in the mood. I tried cranking out a few seasonal tunes on the radio... nothing. I tried rummaging around through the decorations...nope. I tried hanging the Christmas lights outside...they are still laying on the basement floor. Nothing worked...

I finally decided to drown my morose mood in a Caesar. I gathered all the ingredients but had to reach all the way to the back of the spice cupboard for the rimmer mix. The sleeve of my sweater caught the cinnamon stick jar and sent it crashing to the kitchen floor.  The jar disintegrated on impact leaving a scattered mess of glass bits and cinnamon sticks. I bent over to grab the cat with one hand and the sticks with the other when it hit me...the Christmas spirit wafted up on spiced angel wings!

I forgot the crunching glass at my feet and perched Chleo on the counter while I began a therapeutic aromatherapy session in my spice cupboard. I popped open the lids on the cloves and the allspice, then the nutmeg and the ginger, unscrewed the caps from the almond and vanilla extract, the orange and lemon essence letting each aroma fill the room. I was reminded in that moment that Christmas is a celebration experienced to a great degree through our sense of smell.

Many of the memories I have of Christmas come from my childhood and many of those are associated with scent. The smell of pine as my Dad carried the fir tree into the house, carefully measuring almond and orange extracts for Gramma's Christmas cake, the aroma of homemade mincemeat pies, sausage rolls and shortbread cookies filling the kitchen, watching Mom peel strands of orange rind for the cranberry sauce  and Dad preparing the eggnog with generous amounts of spiced Jamaican rum. 

Christmas slowly inched its way into my cold Canadian heart after the therapy session with my spice cupboard, I've decided to pay homage to those little boxes and jars filled with the wonders of the world through my vintage Christmas spice cabinet.

Labels for this project are available in my Etsy store. Click HERE

 The square boxes were made from bits of cardboard that had a wonderful old feel and color. The circular boxes are sections I cut from shipping tubes with lids made from the old cardboard just mentioned. The Altoids tins (which I purchased from Alpha Stamps) were rusted using the vinegar and bleach method (many tutorials are available online). Those cute clear glass corked vials are part of the Tim Holtz line, love those!!

 When all the boxes were finished I made each a home in a shadow box (12" x 12" front loading) purchased from Michaels. I lined the shadow box with a sheet of paper from the Recollections Joyful Christmas collection, also available at Michaels. The divider sections were made from foam-core board covered with more of the scrapbook paper. I added a scroll work wood piece at the top stained to match the box, copper corner pieces and a glass curio knob from the Tim Holtz line, all are available at Michaels.

After the interior was finished the only thing left to do was fill all the boxes with spices and tuck each one into its little home.

I've captured the scents of Christmas forever and now whenever I need a little yuletide aromatherapy I can lift the lid on each little box and indulge. Merry Christmas!

Michaels Craft Stores asked to pin this little spice cabinet on their board for Pinterst's 30 Days of Pinspiration, check it out along with other fabulously creative holiday decorations by other pinners.