Treasure Chest Gift Box with Jewelry & Matchbox Mermaid Clock

Good things come in small packages, and this one is no exception.  If you are looking for a special way to present a small gift, how about making a gift box from a mini kraft treasure chest.

My version of a gift box is mermaid themed and contains an ocean-themed necklace and bracelet.

Below you can see the undecorated chest that would work for whatever theme you have.

I started by painting the chest using teal acrylic paint, then rubbed the raised areas with Inca Gold Gilders Paste.  The straps are Dresden borders.  To add more interest to the straps, I added bronze buckle connectors.  The closure is fancy mini latch set.

On the sides, I attached small swivel drawer handles.

At the top is a paper compass star which you will find below.  Feel free to download and use it in your art.

  Attached to the top is a brass mermaid rubbed with Patina Gilders Paste.

The necklace sports a couple of starfish and brass shells.  The larger starfish comes in a patina color.  To coordinate the other starfish and shells, I rubbed them with Patina Gilders Paste which gave me a perfect color match.

To achieve a matching color on the rosary chains, I used Clover Alcohol Ink.  To dye the beads, make a bath of the Alcohol Ink and Blending Solution; you just need enough to cover the beads.  Drop the beads in the bath and leave them for about 5 minutes.  Carefully remove the beads from the bath, making sure you don’t touch the beads (I used tweezers and grabbed the chain part).  Hang the beads to dry (about 30 minutes).  The nice thing about Alcohol Ink is that if the bead is transparent, it will still be transparent after you apply the ink.  With this technique, your beads can be matched to the color of your jewelry or art piece.

The simple bracelet below sports antique pewter starfish and antique silver seahorse charms.

MATCHBOX NAUTICAL CLOCK

Below are two samples using the Matchbox Nautical collage sheet.

MATCHBOX NAUTICAL CLOCK COLLAGE SHEET

The sheet is designed to fit the narrow matchboxes carried by Alpha Stamps.  On the sheet, you’ll find 3 water papers that wrap perfectly around the matchbox as well as water paper pieces for each end.  To decorate the box or build your matchbox clock, I’ve included lots of shells, fish, clocks, and a frame sized to fit the box.