Trinket Box

I don't know if you saw my post on making Harry Potter wands but they were pretty awesome sauce if I do say so myself! The box I used for them came from a gentleman at work who likes to give me random things to use for my crafts. Well, he gave me some of the same style of box but they were double the width (if that makes sense). So I had to come up with something to do with them! I have a lot, so it will take a few different crafts to use them up, but, to start, I came up with this simply pretty trinket box! 

Supplies I used:

• Cardboard box
• Book pages 
• Mod Podge
• Paint brush for glue
• Scrapbook pages
• Scissors
• Printed quote
• Vinyl/fabric piece
• Various embellishments

I had some of our staff at work help me with the prep for these. I had them paint the outside and inside of the lid as well as the inside of the box white. I did this because I knew the paper I was going to be using on the top wouldn't completely cover the green and I thought was a little too much to show through and thought white would be a softer choice. 

If you noticed, I didn't say the outside of the bottom part of the box. That is because I used a decoupage method with book paper to cover it instead! I ripped up pieces of old book pages that were nice and yellow looking! Then I put a think layer of mod podge on the box, section by section, and laid the pages into the glue. I brushed over the pages as well to make sure they stuck to to the box completely. I also covered the bottom of the box completely with book pages as well. 

Next, I chose a few different types of scrapbook paper that had fun and bright patterns. I measured and cut them into pieces that could be quickly glued onto the different areas. I started with the inside of the box, as I figured that'd be the easiest, and again, laid down some mod podge to glue the paper on. I had this cool vinyl fabric (also from my donating buddy) which on the back had a soft fluffy backing and decided I wanted that for the inside of my box. I glued this down with hot glue to make sure it stayed in place unless someone purposely rips it out! 

I decided to cover the outside and inside of the lid with two different types of paper which I thought was really fun. If you attempt this project or something similar, make sure when you glue paper down that you get the air bubbles out and really smooth it out with something! It will settle better when it dries verses what it looks like when wet!

The next part is the really fun part! So, I did this for a virtual work program. This means that I made up prepacked "craft kits" that the participants picked up ahead of time. This included the box, soft vinyl, quote pieces, and embellishments. The quote I made for the box reads, "wherever life plants you, bloom with grace". I ended up adding another quote for the side of the box that read, "be humble and kind". I wanted these to be a little bit nicer than just gluing copy paper on the box, so I first glued them to a thin matt board and cut them out. Adding changes like this adds depth and texture to projects! The embellishments I included in the boxes ranged from all sorts of mismatched stuff such as: buttons, lace, ribbon, floral leaves, jewels, stickers, clip art, broken jewelry, feathers, etc. People are also always encouraged to add things they may have at home too. 

I laid out my quote pieces until I had them where I thought I liked them and glued them down with hot glue. I then started playing with my embellishment pieces. I have to say... this was shockingly hard! I could not decide where I wanted things and kept moving items back and forth and back again! Slowly, I started feeling happier with what I picked out for each item and began gluing them down, although apprehensively!

Essentially, to finish the box up, just keep fenagling with it until you feel happy! You can also always add more items later too, especially if you have something that is uniquely special in some way. Thanks for reading & crafting!