... THE FAUX FAE - Faux meaning an imitation - Fae meaning fairy = I'm a fairy wanna-be!

... Subjects to include: All things Romantic, French, Cottage, and Shabby Chic, my life and humor.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Jewelry Box Upcycle



Remember that ugly little jewelry box I posted pics of not too long ago?

Well here is how it ended up:

And here is how I did it:


First I sanded the finish


Then I took it apart and finished sanding


Then I white washed it with several coats of dry brushing with watered down this:





 When I went to clean the glass I discovered that the decoration on it was painted on so I scraped it off.  Some spots were a little tough to chip off but I think I got it all.  What do you think?

I found a picture of the lovely Lily Elsie on the every popular and famous The Graphics Fairy and an excerpt from a newspaper article about her.  I printed them on thick paper and then cut it out using the glass as a template.  I also printed out a sepia print of a pretty ballerina so that it could be interchangeable between the outside insert and the inside insert.  I then used tacky glue to attach lace around the opening on the lid and also around the top of the bottom (wow, is that like a oxy-moron kinda thing? Lol)  Anyway, I had to clamp the lace in place to keep it from falling off while it dried.

After the glue had completely dried, I hand sewed pearl ropes at the edges of the lace.





I inserted a piece of plastic to protect the inside insert because I was going to use lace and pearls on the inside of the lid too but I decided that would be overkill so I will probably remove the plastic.

I then gathered a few extras and arranged them together in a mini bouquet and glued it to the top left hand corner of the lid to hide the ends of the lace and pearl strings.

Here are pictures of the finished box for Etsy:







I really struggled with the decision of whether to leave this as a jewelry box or to insert a pin cushion into the top of the lid with a needle keep on the inside of the lid and sell it for sewing notion storage.  I guess if it doesn't sell I can always do that and relist.

Please tell me what you think!

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Crafting!









5 comments:

  1. This is great! I might try to do this one day :) thanks for sharing!

    Lyndsay @ theallmylove.blogspot.com

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  2. Your jewelry box turned out just precious! I used the very same paint (metallic glaze) on mine as well! I love the pearls and the little flower embellishments you used. Very pretty :)

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  3. You have a lovely blog! And I love what you've done to your jewelry box - very pretty!

    I joined your site, too! :)

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  4. Thank you Jamie and Rebecca! I love comments and feedback! I can't wait to see what you do next!

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  5. Thank you Lyndsay! For some odd reason your comment was in the spam folder!

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I welcome your comments and always look forward to reading them! Thank you!