Fabric Covered Boxes

      At one time storing your record albums, LPs, vinyl, (or whatever YOU want to call them) in a milk crate was the thing. I've had these since I don't know when. There's also another box underneath the ones you see here on a lower shelf.

      I had the living room painted and spruced up, so I decided to replace the crates with decorative boxes similar to the ones I've seen in home and craft stores. I first consulted YouTube to get some ideas on how to cover the boxes. In the end, I did my own thing.

I happened to be at Moe's Southwest Grill  and saw one of the workers about to throw away what looked like sturdy,clean, tomato boxes. I asked if I could have them and he said yes. BTW- These boxes also came with lids, but I didn't need those so I took them to the recycling bin. After wiping the boxes down in a bleach solution, drying in the sun, then spraying with disinfectant, I proceeded with my project of covering the boxes in fabric.

 The fabric came from Walmart. We're limited around here as to where we can buy fabric. You can see my blue glue gun in the background.


After a lot of folding, pleating and cutting I was able to hot glue the fabric to the box. It could have been neater but this was my first time trying this.

 I didn't bother to line the inside since no one is supposed to be examining this and it's just for me.

Cutting out the space for the handles wasn't too bad. I made an  "X", then folded the fabric to the inside. 

Folding the edges of some of the material to finish it off and then gluing it on allowed it to come out a lot neater.

Here I am gluing on the folded strips for a clean finish on the handles.

 

You can see the finished handle has no raw edges.  I did this method on both boxes.

 

The box still looked a little plain ...

so I brought out the metal lock icons I had in my stash that I'd gotten for $1 at Michael's some time ago. I didn't know what I was going to do with them at the time but, I knew they had a future in some project I'd concoct. I was able to get 2 rolls of the trim you see below with a gift card I've had since 2016, along with asking for a seniors discount. (Being a senior citizen has it's perks😀. It's only 10%).
 

No, I didn't measure before I put the trim on.

Still,the albums look a lot more dressy on the shelf. The locks didn't show up as well as I'd like and I'll probably go back and dry brush them with a little silver paint to enhance the detail.

Here's a close up of the trim and lock.I'm satisfied with how this project turned out.

That's it***

Record Store Day

Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday every April to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store" (Wikipedia)

There are only two record stores in Birmingham that I know of. One is Charlemagne which has been in existence since Moses. The other is Seasick Records which is pretty new to the block.

I chose Seasick Records located in Crestwood which is closer to me. Thinking Record Store Day was April 20, I went inside and proclaimed, Happy Record Store Day to which I was told would take place on April 22nd. 
ALTHOUGH I did find out that 4/20 is Weed Day. (You can Google it or click the 4/20 link) The lack of customers and a couple of guys getting their hair cut should have been an indication that I was there on the wrong day.

I went back April 22nd and there were throngs of people actually buying vinyl also known in my era as records, LPs and 33s. 

You won't see any people on this picture because I took these on 4/20. As you can see they have a large variety of vinyl but they also sell a few CDs, Indie music and locally pressed vinyl.

Did I mention they have a two station barbering corner? It's right back there where you see the two large mirrors.

Yes, I took a picture of the restroom. They have this cool mural painted on the walls.

Since the albums were only $3, I bought a Sammy Davis Jr. and Ashford and Simpson.

 I've played the Ashford and Simpson album and it sounds great.

This poster shows pics of the guest DJs for the day. One is the mayor of Birmingham. There was a wall of flyers inside Crestwood Coffee (rt.) of Coming Attractions.

I also visited in this same shopping strip, Crestwood Coffee and the future home of Crestwood Pharmacy and Fountain.  I'll post about those in a different post.


That's it.

I attended The Birmingham Museum of Art’s opening night for “Who Shot Rock & Roll.”

Shot as in "took a photo of" not "annihilated." This exhibit is a series of photographs taken by various photographers of celebrity musicians .

Before the exhibit there was a lecture by the author of the book of the same name. Slides (also known as Power Point) were displayed as she narrated with bits of trivia regarding the photos. Sorry to say, I don’t remember her name. The bits of trivia were interesting because there’s no way you’d know the background stories from looking at the photos.

For instance, Aretha Franklin had a side tooth missing. This particular photographer wanted a true image and nothing altered. Aretha told him not to worry about it and continued to chew gum as the photographer and his assistants readied the shoot. Once they were ready, Aretha smiled a big smile with no gaps because she had placed the wad of gum where the missing tooth would have been.

Opening night for this exhibit had wall to wall people. I attended with two other companions. People were literally bumping into each other. So many people I was unable to take pictures of the band, and décor. The band played tunes from various eras of rock and roll. There was a buffet with a variety of everyday foods and there were drinks, wine, beer, soft drinks. I didn’t view the exhibit nor did I partake of food and drink. I was a terrible hostess. I’d invited JF but chose to leave early. The crowd was too overwhelming for me. My niece and JF stayed and when I later talked to them, they said they had a great time.

I have my own vinyl collection. I have them in alphabetical order.

When cassette tapes were the preferred form of music, I could make a tape from the albums so that I could listen in the car. From a previous post you know I no longer have a tape player in my car.

Sadly, it seems the cassette tape has gone the way of the eight track tape and the reel to reel tape which I thought was so cool in the original Shaft movie staring Richard Roundtree. Isaac Hayes wrote the score for the movie. I have that album also. :)

AND yes, I do have a turntable.














Here's just one sample from my vinyl collection.

Wave you hand in the air as you sing, "purple rain, puuurple raaain, purple rain, puuurple raaaain..."

I might have bought this album during the 1980's when I was in the Columbia Record Club which no longer exists. The way it worked was they'd tease you by telling you they'd send you 10 albums and you only had to pay for one. The catch is that if you accept this offer you were obligated to buy a certain number of additional albums within a particular time frame. If you didn't buy more albums your account was turned over to a collection agency and a blemish placed on your credit record.

Just look at all you get for the low, low price of $6.99. There's the jacket, the sleeve and then the album.

Often the lyrics to the songs were on the back of the jacket or inside on the sleeve.

But WAIT, THERE'S MORE!

You get this fine poster considered a work of art by any "80's Prince fan.(cheesy grin)
Answer this question: When was the last time you got a poster inside the jewel case of a CD?

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! I didn't think so.

***Word***