Painting and Decorating Ideas for a Wooden Jewelry Box

Any plain wood box can be turned into a beautiful jewelry box.

Plain wooden jewelry boxes are found at craft supply stores and make creative projects for people of all ages. Inexpensive to buy, the wood material and shape make it a blank canvas for inspired painting or other artistic treatments. Consider the recipient of the jewelry box, then use paint, decoupage, stencil or found objects to make it a one-of-a-kind gift.

Princess

Use images from a well-illustrated children's book to decorate a jewelry box.

Enchant the little princess in your home with a whimsical, yet beautiful, wooden jewelry box featuring favorite children's book illustrations. Paint the box a pastel pink or light green. Page through children's book illustrations, and copy exceptional examples of magical kingdoms, princesses and castles images. Trim away the extra paper, and apply the images in a collage-type design with decoupage medium. Seal with an additional coat of decoupage medium, then embellish the design with metallic 3-D craft paint applied from a squeeze bottle.

Spray Paint Stencil

Use leaves as stencils to decorate your jewelry box.

An ideal choice for a nature lover, use natural materials to decorate a wooden jewelry box. Paint the box a glossy black, and allow it to dry. Meanwhile, collect tree leaves, plant leaves or grasses. Lay the leaves and grasses on the lid of the box, and lightly spray with gold spray paint. Once dry, remove to reveal elegant silhouettes of regional flora.

Vintage Images

Vintage images give a jewelry box a sense of history.

Pay homage to fashion or old Hollywood by using vintage images to decorate a wood jewelry box. Locate images online, then resize and print them on photo paper. Paint the box a color that coordinates with the dominant colors in your images, then glue the pictures onto the lid of the box. Protect the artwork by covering with clear contact paper. Leave the box as is to highlight the lid, or cover the entire box with vintage photos. Add a few lines of relevant text to the project to add interest. Choose a typeset font style, and use a quote that talks about beauty; print and apply with glue to the lid.

Toy Jewels

Kid's play jewelry makes a festive embellishment for a jewelry box.

Design a lighthearted look on a wooden jewelry box by using inexpensive toy jewelry and hot glue. Paint the box a metallic gold or silver to provide a foundation for the jewelry. Purchase a bag of toy jewelry from your local party store, and hot glue gaudy diamond rings, standing upright and in a close, linear pattern, onto the lid of the box. Use cheap necklaces to decorate the sides of the box by hot gluing the decorative pendant onto the box, then attaching the necklace chain in a pattern. A swirl or curved design made with the chain adds interest to the box and makes it look more cheerful.

Asian Influence

A smooth black stone will have a dramatic impact on your jewelry box.

Take a cue from modern Asian art. Incorporate organic objects by finding an oval stone and some twigs. Add shine to the objects by spraying them with a clear acrylic lacquer. Paint the box a glossy black, then glue a colorful piece of origami paper at an angle to the middle of the box. Spray with clear sealant to add shine and protect the paper's surface. Hot glue the stone and the twigs in a design on top of the origami paper, and add colored raffia string across the lid of the box and around the bottom of the jewelry box to add more texture. Glue in place, and spray with sealant to add some shine.

References

• Apartment Hunters: Really Cheap Decorating
• Collage Museum: Home Page

Resources

• The Artful Crafter: Decoupage Methods
• Hollywood Photographs: Home Page