Matching Trinket Boxes

So here are some trinket boxes I made. I ran out of room in my jewelry box, which by the way was my Mother's, and I did not want to get a bigger one. So I made three matching boxes to sit on top of my jewelry box. One holds holiday pins, one holds Christmas pins and the third holds necklaces. To fit many necklaces in there without them becoming tangled I simply took an index card, folded it half almost equally. I then hole punched two holes and cut a slit into the bottom of each hole punch. It essential looks like the card you buy jewelry on. I hang a small portion over the front and let the excess chain fall into the fold. It is working pretty well so I am going to redo them with pretty card stock.

So to start off, I used what I had and altered it. What I had on hand was empty jewelry boxes. I chose three that were the same size for this project. Now they are rather short to begin with so I made them taller. Beginning with the box bottom, I first went around all of the edges with a permanent black marker to cover any scuffs that would show when finished. Then I glued on a strip of scrap booking paper [the butterfly paper] - centered. I used the same strip on all three to make it a set but the portion I enlarged the box with were coordinating papers so they have a little more interest. 

To finish off the bottom section, I glued on two thin brown paper strips. The before is on the left and the after is on the right. The next step is to enlarge the sides. Now since the box already has a lid, you can make the sides as tall as you would like. For myself, I just needed it tall enough to hold necklace cards. Simply the length of your required paper will depend on your box. You just need to measure it twice so you only have to fold it once. I cut my paper twice the height I needed so I could fold it over allowing the inside of the box to be finished as well. I inserted a thick cardstock [solid white] in the middle of my design paper [pink striped] to make it more sturdy. I recommend prefolding your paper before you glue inside designed paper side A to white cardstock to inside designed paper side B.

Once they are dry, glue them into the side of the bottom portion of the box. 

While these sections dried, I worked on the lids. I once again took the black marker around what would be the exposed edges covering any scuff marks. Since my boxes were square, I cut a square of paper for the top. I chose to use the same paper on all three to once again unify the set. I embellished the edges with gems. My boxes were black. I did not want black. I cut a strip of the same brown paper I used to edge the bottom the same width as the lip on my box top. I glued the strip around the outer lip.

I decided to add a handle on top. What I used were bottle caps. I saw on another crafter's site where they filled the bottle cap with pearls and gems and such. It looked so pretty. If you want to do the bottle cap, first put a puddle of glue covering the bottom. Place pearls, crystals or gems around in the cap. Fill in the empty space with seed beads. In fact over fill with seed beads then press firmly to pack them in. After a few minutes you can turn it over to allow the extra beads to fall off. Place it aside to dry.

So at this point all that is left is to embellish the outside of your box as much or as little as you would like. Since I would be handling them frequently, I decided not to add to much dimensional items to the sides, but if you will not be handling it very often then flower cluster, bows or charms would be so pretty. To finish off the inside, I cut a square of the same brown paper I used as strips on the outside bottom and glued it inside on the bottom. I also took the cotton from the box and peeled into layers. It already comes cut to size in the box. I glued that to the inside of the lid and covered it with a square of designed paper. This is so there is a soft contact spot with any jewelry that may stick up kinda high. If you will be using this box for some other purpose, you certainly may not need to do this step. You may leave the box lid in it's original finish [usually white], you could paint it or cover it with design paper. If this is a gift, that is a perfect spot for a sentiment. 

At this point all that is left is to add feet if you like. I used those glass planter stones you can get almost anywhere. Don't forget to glue your handle onto the top. Let it dry overnight before you handle it to allow time for the glue to set and really hold your feet and handle in place.