Toiletries, part 1

Most women I have seen in Viking camps use baskets to keep their toiletries. It looks very cute, yes, but for some odd reason it does not work for me. I always seem to lose things from the basket so I need something with an authentic look that can be closed.

Of course nothing even remotely resembling Viking toiletries has ever been excavated and if I think of that scene in "The 13th Warrior" where they all share a bowl of water to clean faces and noses it still makes my flesh crawl... so I've come up with the following solution.

I bought one of those round wooden boxes you can find in almost any craft shop. I took one of the bigger ones, big enough to hold all those essential items you need to become a nice clean viking...

Then I took a bit of fabric which was left of Lars's small kaftan. It is a really thick wool so sturdy enough to make a nice big toilet pouch. The round box fits perfectly inside.

This is what it looks like so far, I still intend to decorate the top and perhaps make a nice tape woven trim to make it less boring.

I did not use a lucet to make a cord, instead, I braided three strands of wool together. I actually like braiding because you can use many different colours and my lucetting skills are not so fantastic at the moment... I am sure you will be able to forgive me.

Also, I recommend that you use a water sealer on the wooden box (inside and out!) so that it's protected from any leaky bottles and such....