For this project, I started with an empty Stash tea box (pictured here. I didn't do anything to prepare the surface of the box because it's made of a glossy cardstock-like paper.
I gathered the following supplies:
- gel medium
- sponge brush
- small container of water
- piece of cardboard to serve as a work surface
- glue sticks
- old book pages
- brown marble patterned paper
- yellow mulberry paper
- burgundy cardstock
- cream cardstock
- distress ink
- stickers (tags, keys, locks, key holes, text)
- rubber band
- eyelet holder
- hole punch
- gems
- copper colored glitter gel pen
- trinkets - a minature key and miniature lock
Step one: cover the entire box with the brown marble patterned paper using the gel medium. Allow to dry completely.
Step two: Aear up the old book pages so the edges are really ragged. Using the distress ink, touch the edges of all the torn pages. Allow the ink to dry completely.
Step three: Affix the old book pages in random places on both the inside and outside of the box, allowing the brown marble paper to show through. (pictured here) Allow to dry completely.
Step four: Cut the burgundy cardstock into two separate pieces, one half the size of the other. How big these pieces are depends on how much coverage you want. When affixing them to the box, allow a quarter of an inch between each one. (pictured here and here)
Step five: Cut the cream paper into two squares, about two and a half inches in diameter. Punch a hole in the center and add the eyelet and the holder. Affix these to the center of the front of the box and the lid. Embellish with stickers. (pictured here)
Step six: Affix the yellow mulberry paper to the interior of the box (if you want it square, that's up to you) using the glue stick. In my experience, wet medium and mulberry paper doesn't work very well unless you want most of it to end up breaking apart on your fingers. (pictured here)
Step seven: Add the rest of your stickers randomly all over the box, add gems to the edge of the lid and trace the edges of your cardstock with the glitter gel pen. (pictured here)
Step eight: I used a rubber band to keep this box closed (wound around the eyelet holders as pictured in the previous step), but you may wish to use a cord or another kind of fiber.
You're finished! Now you have an altered "vintage themed" treasure box.
