Tissue box cover-ups to match the soap pump dispensers

I made some octagon-shaped soap / lotion pump dispensers and found a matching design for the tissue boxes. I’ve made four such cover-ups out of scrap walnut.

I carefully matched the grain patterns (8 pieces bevel-ripped at 22.5 degree for each box cover-up). I also edge-glued two scraps to make pieces big enough for the tops. Finally, I sprayed a couple coats of polyurethane and the wood grains really show beautifully.

Also took some time to make a resaw fence for my bandsaw to get the 3/4” scrap stock to closer to 1/4” before thicknessing them on a planer. The fence was simply to make and it worked well. I finally added some touch to the pieces by signing them with some brass coins / nameplates I made in an earlier project. Fun project.

Material costs for 4 cover-ups:

Walnut – 1/3 of a whole cut-offs bundle that cost me $3 from a lumber yard: $1
Spray Poly – 1/2 of a can ($2) – $1
Boutique-sized tissue boxes from WalMart – $? x4 (my wife has the receipt)

For those who want to try on this project:

TIPS:

1) Determine the size of your stock pieces after you have one of the tissue boxes with you, and
2) If you think the box cover-up will look too big given the size of the boutique-sized tissue box (I DID), you can modify the size of the paper tissue box (I took it down by about 1/2”) so the cover-up you’ll build is smaller.

Power tools needed or desired (most likely you have them all already):

1) Tablesaw
2) Bandsaw or scrollsaw
3) A drill press or just a power drill
4) Sanding tools
5) Router table (for clean bevel edges for the tops – they can also be done on a stationary belt sander)
6) Thickness planer (only if you don’t have a bandsaw for resawing or you’re not starting with a 1/4” stock)

Size Cover-ups: Mine measure a little over 5 1/2” by 5 1/2” on the top.

-- The time I enjoy wasting is not time wasted