Pocket Sized Water Color Kit Made From Plastic First Aid Kit With a Brush That Deassembles

I had so much fun making the Mixed Media art kit that I thought I'd give it a try with water colors. I've seen some pretty cool one's on here and thought I'd give it my own little spin. I also tried to use the "sawed off paintbrush" and realized that the lack of handle really messed me up. So I thought of an idea to reassemble to store and reassemble when I needed. This is a rough idea but it does work, and if you have any better ideas or modifications let me know. Since this is kind of a work in progress I'd love to see what you think. I tried a new "fix" on an attached easel as well.

Step 1: Gathering Materials

For the water color kit. You are going to need a set of water colors that will fit into the box/receptacle that you chose. I had a set of Prang water colors the semi moist kind that come in the cute little box. Imagine my delight when I realized you can totally take them out. So I just removed the blue, red, yellow, black and brown. It also had green, orange and purple/violet. Next I needed a water holder, that wouldn't leak all over my paints. I found a tiny "paint" cup that came with a huge paint pallet where you could store the paint. I bought the lil cups and the pallet from the Dick Blick catalouge a long time ago. I'm sure you can still purchase them. If not there are other cool items you could use just look around. Last time I used holes and twist ties to hold my drawing utensils this time I wanted to try something else. It was suggested to me to try elastic, but alas I lost the piece I had planned to try with. I came up with little "pockets" made from felt and hot glue. For the easel I just cut a groove out of a section of wooden chop stick, I sure do have enough of those laying randomly around. I also found a little red pouch from Walgreens that used to have first aid stuff in it but makes an awesome water proof "portfolio" perfect for the small size of the water color/ thick drawing paper for this kit.

Materials I used ( You can use whatever is most useful to you)
- plastic first aid kit (pocket sized)
- section of wooden chop stick
- old paint brush
- a tiny clasp for necklace looks like a barrel with two small loops one on either end
- hot glue gun and sticks
- felt (lets the door open for bad pick up lines)
- water colors (in whatever colors you like. I chose primary colors , black , and brown, My kit wouldn't fit all of them.
- tooth picks ( I like to use weird things as paint brushes)
- Eye make up applicators (again I like to use weird things as paint brushes. For cool texture tie some pine needles together and run them through water, water colors and onto paper)
- water color/ thick drawing paper
- fine grade sand paper
- a knife to cut the groove for easel

Step 2: Assembly and Making Parts Fit.

After you have removed your paints, if you have used the same kind that I have you can simply use the hot glue gun and glue them into place. The same with the water holder. Oh and I glued mine on the lid so that I could use the back of the bottom of the kit for my easel. On the inside of the box I glued little "pockets" that I made from felt onto the plastic. One for my eye make up applicators and one for my paint brush and toothpicks. I just folded down the top part and glued that in place, to make it look neater. Just use a small amount of glue on three sides of the squares/rectangles and leave an opening where you didn't glue. Be careful not to burn yourself through the felt, sounds like a dumb warning but one that warrants heading. Let it try and place your objects in. If the pocket doesn't fit right or its too big or small either make a new one or just cut down the one you have after removing it . The hot glue on felt is pretty forgiving. Just peel it off and start over. For the paint brush I gently sawed it roughly in half after measuring against my box for a good fit. After I sawed them down, I then took so very fine grade sand paper and made the cut off ends smooth and flat. Next I took some tiny wire cutters and clipped off the little "loops" on the necklace clasp, the kind that looks like a barrel and unscrews. I then used the glue gun again to glue one to each one. I had to try a couple of times to get them into position correctly. once they are dry you can screw the ends together and test them out. When you have them to your liking, you can unscrew them and place them in a felt pocket. For the easel and I use this term VERY lightly, I just used a carpet/ Xacto knife and cut a groove out and tested it to make sure the paper would slide into it holding it in place. You could also use a tiny hobby hand saw if you have one around or get really fancy and cut the grove on some other wood shop type tools ( table saw, and yes I've seen teany tiny ones at Harbor Freight) After cutting the groove and testing it use the hot glue gun and glue it onto the back of the box. Be sure the kit is laying lid side down. This way all you have to do to have access to your paints and utensils is to turn the kit around.