What child doesn’t want to create their own treasure box or Jewellery box. This is a super easy craft that can be great for a rainy day, a personalised gift, or it would make a great activity for a kids craft party too.
Finding a wooden box to work with is really easy. You can pick up plain wooden giftboxes from most craft stores for around $10. You could get lucky in a thrift store or op shop and score an old jewellery box for just a few dollars. And you can even just upcycle an old shoe box, or a small courier box with a hinged lid (something like a tinker crate box would be perfect).
Just note, if you use a cardboard box with a shiny surface to it, or you find an old jewellery box that’s been stained or urethane, you might want to seal it first. On a shoe box you can probably get away with just a standard primer. If your box has been previously painted or stained, try Resene Smooth Surface Sealer. It’s awesome, covers most things and makes a great surface to paint on.
For the stencil, again most craft stores have these. Often you’ll get a pack of stencils with 10 or 10 different stencils included. These are great, and you’ll find a bunch of different uses for them. From upcycling a kid’s chest of drawers to stencilling a whole wall!
You can also make your own stencil easily. Just google stencil + the image you want. Print out the stencil and glue it to stiff card with PVA glue. Once it’s dry, carefully cut out the stencil using a craft knife.
Upcycled Jewellery Box with Galaxy Painted Unicorn
You will need:
A wooden chest (I purchased one from Spotlight but most craft stores have them)
Stencil (I used a unicorn one, my daughter’s favourite)
Resene test pot paints (I used Colour Me Pink, Sputnik, Scotty Silver and Tutti Frutti)
Resene Art Action Glaze (optional)
Paintbrush
Small Round sponge
What to do:
1. Paint your jewellery box completely in Colour Me Pink. It will need three coats. Paint carefully around the hinges and clasp. Make sure it’s completely dry between coats. To speed up the drying time I used a hairdryer between coats.
2. Place you stencil onto the top of your box. When you have it position where you want it, lightly tape it down to stop it from moving around. This is much easier than trying to hold it down with one hand. When you are adding the paint to it I suggest you don’t load your paintbrush up to much, keep it fairly dry, and apply it to the surface with a dabbing motion. This will help stop the paint from leaking under the stencil.
3. To Create a galaxy effect, start by blotching the Sputnik, then dab on Scotty Silver. Once you have a little base of the Sputnik and Scotty Silver add in a few patches of Colour Me Pink and Endeavour (blue) until you feel happy with the colour.
4. Once you are happy with the galaxy colour effect using a firm brush, or an old tooth brush, flick some white paint at the stencil. You can see here I covered the bare parts of the jewellery box with some old paper. Kids love this part! Finally, before you pull off the stencil, add some gold to the unicorn’s horn.
5. Next use Tutti Frutti (light green) to add some little tufts of grass. I also added a little more bling to the unicorn’s horn!
6. Using a little round sponge and the Scotty Silver dab on a moon.
7. Finally, give your jewellery box two coats of Art Action Glaze. This is just a clear coat that will seal the whole painting and prevent the paint from scratching off too easily.
Now all your kids need to do is decide what awesome, special treasures to keep inside!
If you and your kids enjoyed this craft be sure to check out hundreds of other craft fun activities.
