Tardis Tissue Box

Search for "Tardis Tissue Box" and my page comes up as one of the top hits.

Here's the back story: I have always been the kind of person that if something didn't exist I would take it upon myself to figure out how to create it. That's lead to some interesting adventures over the past years including desires to learn about computers, electronics, crocheting, and herbology. So I'm in college, living on my own, and am standing in the grocery store looking at tissue boxes. For years Kleenex made a tissue box with a nautical print on it, but it was gone. There was also one with astrology symbols, but it was gone too. Only thing there was boxes with flowers and ducks. When I got home I called Kleenex and they told me that they discontinued those lines. I told them that I didn't find flowers and ducks very interesting and they told me that they weren't marketing to men. Hm. 3 billion men in the world and no interest to market to us. So, being the kind of person to just work around problems, I decided at some point to make a tissue box cover that said something about me and my interests, so guests wouldn't think I was the kind of guy that liked flowers or ducks. If you are going to own something, make it say something about who you are.

So I chewed on this problem in the back of my mind for a few years and eventually decided that I would make a tissue box cover that looked like Doctor Who's Tardis. The idea was masculine, an off reference at the time (Doctor Who was off the air for several years), and something from my childhood that I really enjoyed.

In 2007, one event lead to the two critical things needed. The event: Leah got a job at Michael's Arts & Crafts allowing me both the time and discounted materials to attempt this. I studied photos, created detailed exterior drawings, and come up with a plan to build this thing. I bought several small boxes to experiment with paint colors and techniques and spent many a creative evening in the shop listening to music and working.

The end result is here. In 2008, I put the project on the web and wrote to a Doctor Who Podcast that I put the idea online. The response from the hosts of the podcast was awesome. They read my letter and got all geeked out over the tissue box. My webpage got a ton of traffic from all over the world and it came up as one of the top results on Goggle when you searched for "Tardis Tissue Box."

Since then, at least 3 people have emailed me asking for directions on how they can build their own. I never made any official "plans" but I send them the reference drawings and what I did to get there. Writing that email the first time was incredibly difficult, primarily because I had to relive all the work and thought process that went into this. People suggested I build more, but it is one of those labors of love that I only want to do once. Even though it was hard work, that I likely won't do again, I am very proud of my box. It is unique and it represents me. If you are going to invest in something, make sure it says something unique about you.

UPDATE:

• http://home.metrocast.net/~nai102/ (this is my original page showing photos)
• https://sites.google.com/site/tardistissueboxproject/ this is my new page documenting me making my Mark II version for a friend.