Okay, so it’s not that kind of casket…

It’s my doll-sized 17th Century Embroidered Casket (sans the embroidery yet). But the wood work is all done!

I don’t have a space to do the dusty woodwork inside, so I froze my fingers off yesterday doing the last of the sawing outside on my deck.

But I had a helper. I’m not sure what kind of insect he/she is, but it was nice to have company.

I’m going to wait until I do the embroidery that covers the box before I install the hardware.

Here’s what the inside top looks like. But there are secrets…

Since we’re friends, I’ll show you what’s hidden. Don’t tell! Under the boxes on the left and the front are hidden compartments. The box on the top right will have a pincushion on top, but has a tiny hidden drawer inside.

The front looks like it has 7 drawers.

But the drawer fronts are all different?

When the sliding panel at the top is removed, it reveals three more drawer fronts. But with the hidden drawers behind the front ones, there are a total of 13 drawers, 4 of them hidden.

I LOVED doing the work on this. I can only hope that designing and stitching the embroidery will be half as much fun. One day soon, I’ll report back on just how many pieces of wood are in the casket.

I have shared some pics with my Cabinet of Curiosities class and several people have asked me if I am going to make more mini caskets to sell. I think I will, but probably not until Spring, unless I can find a warm place to work.

In the mean time, I’m excited to make templates for and design the embroidery.

Even if this was not so scary, I do wish you a Happy Halloween!