A Wee Scottish Crafting Week: Travel Games & a Finished Sewing Box Treasure

Etsy Shop:
https://LTMarshallDesigns.etsy.com

This week in the studio has been one of those gloriously creative ones — the kind where there’s tartan everywhere, the laser cutter hasn’t had a day off, and I’ve somehow managed to sand, stain, stitch, and photograph a full table’s worth of Scottish makes. My favourite kind of chaos.

I started the week with a fresh batch of my Saltire & Thistle travel game sets — the perfect little Scottish twist on tic tac toe. Each one comes with its own handmade tartan pouch (stitched from scrap fabric rescued from kilt-makers), and a full set of tiny wooden pieces I’ve laser-cut and finished by hand. They’re rustic, patriotic, and full of character, and I love how no two sets ever match thanks to the mystery tartan scraps I have to work with.

But the real star of the week?
My newly finished Scottish Sewing & Embroidery Essentials Box.

This piece has been an absolute joy from start to finish. I began with a small salvaged wooden box that had definitely seen better days — a little dull, a little forgotten, but begging for a second life. After sanding it back, staining it warm and rich, and lining it with deep red felt, I transformed the lid with a panel of tartan and a layered wooden thistle emblem. It suddenly looked like something that might have sat on a grandmother’s dresser a hundred years ago, full of quiet stories.

Inside the box, I’ve tucked a full set of crafting treasures.
I made the majority of the notions myself: laser-cut wooden thread bobbins, stitch markers, a needle book with a hand-stitched spine, a thread keeper, and a matching tartan-topped notions pot. All decorated with thistles, of course — when in Scotland!

To finish the set, I added a pair of gold embroidery scissors in a handmade tartan pouch, a vintage-style faux leather retractable tape measure, and a bronze thread cutter. Everything fits perfectly into the two inner compartments, making it feel like a proper heirloom sewing kit — the kind you’d pass down rather than tuck away.

Here’s a wee look at the finished set:

I think what I love most about this piece is how much of it came from rescued or reclaimed materials. It’s a beautiful reminder that with a bit of imagination (and a lot of sanding), forgotten items can become something cherished again.

Both the sewing box and the travel game sets are now in my Etsy shop for anyone who loves Scottish handmade gifts. And now that my workspace is covered in sawdust and thread ends, I suppose that means it’s officially been a good week.

More Scottish makes are already brewing — and possibly another sewing box if I can bring myself to part with this one!