Canarywood, freshly mitered — the start of learning what my table saw could actually doStaging the velvet lining before committing to anythingTest-fitting the velvet against scrap first, before touching the real bottomWalls with the bottom dado cut — oversized on purpose, more on that laterDry-fitting the bottom before glue enters the pictureThe lid needed two pieces joined to get full width — no single board was wide enoughBottom panel, ready for velvet and Mod PodgeDry-fit with the lid sitting on topDry-fit with the velvet bottom finally in placeClamped and curing — sealed shut on purpose, lid includedFully glued, still one sealed block at this pointFiguring out where the hardware actually goes, round oneStill laying out hardware — there's pencil scribble under there from measuring and re-measuringLast check before anything gets screwed down for realBare box, pre-hardwareHardware on — starting to look like an actual box instead of a glued blockFinished and finished — polyurethane, gloss and allFront view, brass clasp and allThe velvet interior — pinched into the dado, not just glued flatThe honest close-up — miter gap and dowel blowout, left in frame on purposeSide view, showing the ball-and-claw feetSame lesson, different cornerA couple of scratches made it into the final finish — not hidden hereThe finished box, mistakes and all