The best place for a rosary is in your hand. When not in your hand, it's nice to have one in your pocket. However, sometimes you want an honored place to keep a rosary when it is not in actual use. You want a place which is beautiful, simple and natural. A wooden box, made with loving care (not with slave labor) and with domestic or reclaimed materials may be the best choice for your rosary or for a gift. A place to lay our Lady's beads ...
I hand craft rosary boxes. To date, I have never sold one-they have always been gifts. However, for some limited amount of time, I will be offering rosary boxes to the public. They are crafted with hand tool (power tools are used sparingly and mostly to rough-size stock). Each is individually designed and made based on the particular need. There is no stock or stock items.
We are hoping that providing these rosary boxes (and maybe eventually some other items) will assist us in building our family economy and help us to continue our other work (Requiem Press).
The Wood
I usually work in oak, cherry, mahogany (reclaimed), poplar, maple or pine. Often the wood is reclaimed from crates or pallets etc. As such it takes extra time to hand plane the surfaces to make it usable for a fine box.
I tend to use what I have available-I usually don't purchase lumber for these boxes. This can at times limit the options.
Size
Typically I make two general sizes of rosary cases: to hold a single rosary or to hold several (for example for a whole family).
The Medals
Usually the front of each my rosary boxes has the Miraculous Medal. The lid of the rosary box typically has a Crucifix. Often the crucifix comes from a broken rosary. I have or can obtain crucifixes in various styles, and have or can obtain medals for various saints which could adorn the sides, etc.
Other options
It is possible to further customize the rosary box with an initial (or two) inlaid into the cover or sides. It may also be possible to include a music movement (Ave Maria) into a larger box. We can discuss your custom needs.
Price
Materials that go into each rosary box [varnish, hinges, medals, consumable material (i.e. sandpaper, cloth) etc.] usually run from $7 to $15. My labor is almost entirely with hand tools, and varies for each box depending on the particular design and requested options, wood selected (some is easier or more forgiving than others), type of crucifix inset, etc.
Keeping this in mind, I offer these rosary boxes for your assessment and for the offering which you freely provide.
Send me an email (see sidebar). (Make sure you put "rosary box" in the subject line so it doesn't get deleted as spam.) We can discuss via email the wood selection, crucifix (and medal) styles, and then get to work. Please allow at least 6-8 weeks for delivery of your rosary box.
We accept your offering for a box (or simply a donation for our work) by check (our address is at the very bottom of the page) or through PayPal (see the PayPal Donate button on the upper left.) I will let you know the shipping cost once the box is complete.
See some samples of my boxes below. Thanks for taking a look.
Oremus pro invicem!
