The Pill's the Thing. Or, How I Created Submission Boxes

The Pill's the Thing. Or, How I Created Submission Boxes. 

When I came up with the idea for doodle submission boxes my initial thought was to use cigar boxes like the ones you might see at a garage sale or a kid’s lemonade stand—compact, cute and a bit secretive (to me). What stories lay within those tired old boxes….

Then I realized that although the cigar boxes had mystique they also  “reeked” of stinky bars, emphysema and product placement. Plus, the boxes I saw online were either too small or flat. Submitting doodles would involve raising the lid back and, consequently, exposing all the other doodles (eek!) or the lid flying open with possible theft by wind. There had to be a better solution. The doodles needed privacy from thieves and critics.

The boxes needed to pop. Zing! Bang! Boom! Sparklers! Confetti-cannon tripwires! Monkeys! I really wanted to make them look beautiful and represent the magic of doodling. But the box…hmm…

Pills! Pills were the answer! Well, not exactly pills. The boxes that my medications were mailed to me in. They would be perfect! And they were free! I’d been saving them for months and didn’t know why. Serendipity is why! They are small shoebox size and the lid closes down into the box. I could just cut a hole in the top and carry the box around with no fear of doodles slipping out. I just needed to design them and create them.

Here’s how I make them: first I strip them free of packing tape and spray paint them metallic silver.  The boxes need to “pop” so I decorate them with doodle submissions. I photocopy several submitted doodles onto bright yellow card stock, cut them out and glue them onto the box. Then I make a laminated back and attach it to the box with velcro strips.

The boxes display the various types of doodles people do: faces, animals, creatures, scenery, moments, still life, words, designs, or any combination of these. And I’m amazed by all of the variations in style and levels of skills. I want to display every type of doodle in the hopes one or more will inspire somebody else to submit a doodle or two. Every three boxes or so I use new doodles as a way to honor those who submitted.

You can’t have doodles without supplies. So, I put together pencil bags that include sticky notes, information cards, & writing utensils and place them in binders with a laminated FAQ sheet inside. Five coffee shops in Abilene, Texas, agreed to take my submission boxes. The awesome news is that they work! Sometimes the pickings are slim and sometimes bountiful. We are grateful for any we get.

​Thank you!