WEDDING RING TREASURE BOX DIY- TUTORIAL WITH PICTURES

This magical fairy-tale style treasure box is just what Baby Cat and Fiancé Cat need to hold their rings at their wedding! Best of all, Baby Cat made it herself and it was super easy and inexpensive!

If you would like to make a box like this, either for wedding rings or for another special thing that you would like to keep safe, Baby Cat documented the steps she took so you can follow along!

What you need:

-A wooden box or treasure chest- I got mine at JoAnn's (no surprise there)

-Sandpaper to smooth the box and prepare it for painting

-Primer for a base coat

-Spray paint in the color you want the box to be- I used chrome because our wedding colors are silver and blue, but you could use any color.

-Stuffing

-A rectangle of fabric that is a few inches larger than the mouth of the box- I used a leftover piece of my wedding dress fabric

*Optional*-another shear layer of fabric the same size as the first- I used leftover lace from my dress

-About a foot of satin ribbon at 1/4'' wide- I used a cream color to match the fabric

-Tacky glue

-Fray Check

-A needle with an eye large enough for your ribbon

-Two colors of construction paper for making paper flowers- I used cream and naby blue

-One or two flower-shaped paper punches- you could cut the flowers out freehand if you prefer, but I liked the punches.

*Optional*-one or two ink pads in contrasting colors to the flower paper- I used royal blue on the cream colored flowers

*Optional*-any other decorative items you would like for your box- like my beaded dragonfly

For the decorations:

-A piece of lace or ribbon- Again, I used leftover lace from my dress

-Flower-shaped paper punches in two different sizes and/or shapes

-Two different colors of construction paper- I used navy blue and cream

-Ink pads in a complementary or contrasting color to the paper- I used royal blue

-Small beads for flower centers- I used silver beads leftover from the cake topper I made awhile back

-*Anything else you would like to add to your box, like the cute beaded dragon fly I bought at Hiron's months ago with no idea what I was going to use it for!

How to make it:

1. Find a cute treasure box to transform!

2. Sand the outside and inside of the box until completely smooth and ready to recieve paint. Make sure to get your engagement ring in the picture to remind everyone what this box is for, haha.

3. Now it is time to paint. Grab your primer and spread out a layer of newspaper outside or in your basement so that you can spraypaint without getting it on something you don't want to paint.

4. Lay your box open on the newspaper to expose the maximum amount of surface area and spray it with an even coat of primer. Wait for it to dry for at least and hour.

5. When your box is dry, flip it and spray the inside. Wait for this to dry for another hour.

6. When the primer is all dry, grab your main color of spray paint and repeat the same process you just did with the primer.

7. You may use multiple coats if necessary to acieve full coverage, but don't spray on too much in one coat because it might cause drips and those are hard to fix!

8. Once all of your paint it dry, it is time to create the cushion on which the rings will rest. To start, fill the boxt with stuffing.

9. Next, place your first layer of fabric in the box overtop the stuffing and tuck it in at the sides to get an idea of how much you will need. You want enough fabric that you can tuck it around the stuffing on all sides and give the impression of a pillow sitting in the box, but not a lot of excess.

9. Trim off excess fabric so you only have what you need.

10. Tuck in the edges of the fabric around the sides and use tacky glue to secure it to the sides of the box.

11. Repeat step 9 with your sheer fabric.

12. Repeat step 10 with your sheer fabric and let it dry.

13. Using your needle, thread the ribbon through two holes at the center of the fabric so that it will stay in place and both ends are available for holding the rings. If you have trouble getting the ribbon to go through, it may be necessary to cut two tiny holes in the fabric using button-hole scissors. If you do this, use Fray Check around the holes to keep them from tearing.

Tie in the rings to check the length and placement of the ribbon. Trim the ribbon as desired and use Fray Check to keep the ends from unraveling.

Don't they look cute together?

14. Now it's time to decorate the outside! Drape a piece of lace or ribbon over the box in a way that looks good to you.

I used this tutorial by Sweet Bio Designs for the paper flowers. I adapted them slightly because the paper punches I had were a little different from the ones in the video and because I like tacky glue better than hot glue. I may post a tutorial for my flowers later, but I think Sweet Bio Design's tutorial is very good and all of her work is beautiful!

15. After you have your flowers, glue small beads in the center if you would like. Then arrange your flowers and any other design elements you want on your box and glue them on.

Now you are done and have a gorgeous one-of-a-kind box to keep your treasures!

-  Baby Cat