You Can't Make a Silk Purse of a Sow's Ear or Can You?

Part Two of the Great Mystery Thrift-Off

Did you ever hear the idiom "make a silk purse from a sow's ear"?  Where did that saying come from?  The original idiom actually dates back to 1579 with the definition being: To produce something refined, admirable, or valuable from something which is unrefined, unpleasant, or of little or no value.  Today's idiom has evolved into "you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear", meaning you can't make something good out of something that is naturally bad.  I prefer the original idiom from 1579.  I will make something refined, admirable, or valuable from this unrefined, unpleasant, inexpensive Goodwill item!

So what's in the box?

My Mystery Thrift-Off item is-------a chrome yellow tissue box imprinted with colorful ducks!

What to do, what to do?  Not much to work with, so there is really no way to turn it into something else.  My decision is to "make a silk purse of a sow's ear" by "producing something that is refined, admirable, or valuable, from something which is unrefined, unpleasant, or of little or no value".  I decide on leaving it a tissue box but making it into an "admirable" version

A good sanding to roughen up the smooth surface, along with a good cleaning using alcohol.  I then used a Rust-oleum paint for plastic, giving the tissue box a dark base color and eliminating the bright chrome color.

Decided to cover the plastic tissue box in snakeskin, just need to chose a color.

I decide to go with the chinese red snakeskin with the natural black markings.

The box is covered!  Now for some clear finish.

The clear finish really made the snakeskin pop!

And now the once chrome yellow, duck imprinted tissue box is now a sophisticated, snakeskin wrapped box fit for display.