A few weeks ago I was helping my bffff Beth set up for a party at her house. She had to make a dump run and I was happy to accompany her. Our dump has a great section for usable discards known as the Duxbury Mall (humorous as we have no malls here), or alternatively the Knick Knack Shack. Our Mall is so popular that there is actually a time limit for "shopping". I have trash pick up service and don't have a dump sticker - so I never get to go there - which is why I was happy to go with her. Among the various "treasures" were this pair of white wooden shadow boxes that are meant to be hung on the wall.
Aside from a couple of paint chips, they were in perfect condition and I loved the scalloped edge. I wasn't sure what I would do with them, but I felt like there was an art project in the offing. After giving it some thought, I decided that these would make pretty fun decoupaged boxes for napkins or perhaps nuts or cookies - perfect for a hand-made hostess gift!
I found this pretty John Derian wrapping paper at Target - I love John Derian's decoupage! - and thought it was perfect. I was still hunting for some kind of paper when I went into a local shop, Octavia's, that sells decorative accessories and gifts and thought I'd be able to pick up a unique wrapping paper that I could cut up. As it happened, they had none, but the nice lady did offer me some scraps of the paper they use for gift wrapping. Perfect!
I started by tracing and cutting out a background paper from a scrapbook pad that I have and glued it down using Mod Podge. I covered the four outside sides with the background paper. I then covered that with cutouts of the shells. I wasn't very careful with my layout as I prefer a more haphazard look. I also traced out and trimmed the leaf paper for the insides of the box.For a bottom, I cut out heavy duty cardboard and stapled it to the back of the shadowboxes, creating a bottom.
I then applied the leaf paper to the outside bottom (covering the staples) and the inside bottom.
I painted the scalloped edge with acrylic paint in a metallic Champagne color. I just love that color that is neither gold nor silver.
One everything was glued down, the edges trimmed and the paint dry, I applied several coats (probably 5 or 6) of Mod Podge. I made sure to really fill in the spaces on the bottom with the Mod Podge to connect the cardboard base with the wooden sides, to make it as sturdy as possible.
There are plenty of uses for these boxes. While I would not recommend using anything more than a barely damp cloth to clean them - they would make a very pretty holder for nuts (either edible or gilded!) or some pretty paper cocktail napkins.
These boxes really didn't take too long to do and cost pretty much nothing. And, more importantly, they are personal and handmade. I don't know about you, but I love receiving and giving handmade gifts. They are always one of a kind and are often very gentle on the environment and your purse!
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