My inspiration this week was an advertisement I received from Michael’s Craft Store.  I thought these boxes were very cute and the project looked very easy to recreate.  I was right!  Once I got the boxes them selves done though, I decided to head in a different direction with the inside of the boxes. Lets get it to it!

Supplies

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To make this project, I used 4 of the Dollar Tree shadow boxes.  I also used Waverly White Chalk Paint and Red Chalkboard Paint.  You will need a few paint brushes, some E6000 or another type of strong glue, and a hot glue gun.  When I decided to go a different direction, Dollar Tree come though again with some very cute Valentine’s stickers.

Time to Get Started

I started by popping off the circles that were in the middle of each one of the boxes.  Then I used the Waverly White chalk paint to prime the boxes on the inside and out, but I did not do the backs.  I also painted the circles, that I had removed from the boxes, white.  They needed 3 coats to get the look I wanted.  I applied the white paint on the circles very thick because I wanted deep brush strokes on the circles to add some texture to the project.

My next step started with painting the outside rims of the boxes red, leaving the middle of them white.  Then I remembered that the circles were white and that they would not stand out once I put them back in the boxes so I decided to paint the inside of the boxes red too.  I only put one coat of red paint on them.  I did not want the red to be completely opaque to add some more visual interest to the final project.

  I am hoping that you can see the way the paint looks in this picture.

So once I had the boxes and circles painted, I started looking at different ways I could write the word “LOVE”  out in them like the inspiration project.  Sitting on my desk were these Dollar Tree Valentine’s stickers.  The top ones in the picture are metallic stickers and the ones on the bottom are wooden hearts.  I decided to combine the two types of stickers and places them in the center of the hearts.  I used hot glue to attach the wooden hearts onto the white circles.

Now it is time to attach all the boxes together.  This is a piece of decor I want to have for a while so it must hold up when I store it each year.  It is because of this, that I used a combination of hot glue and E6000 when I attached the boxes together.  The reason for both types of glue is because the E6000 is a very strong glue and will hold the boxes together for the long term, but it takes a good 24 hours to dry.  As for the hot glue, that gives an immediate bond to give the E6000 time to dry.

Since I used a mixture of stickers, I laid out the boxes to decide how I wanted them to look once they were all attached together.  This is where I get a bit picky.  I did not want two wooden pink hearts in the same row or two of the same kind of hear stickers in the same line.  So that is why I wanted to plan it out a head of time.  Just so you know, I am not a perfect crafter.  I took the heart stickers off the wooden stickers a few times to make sure I had it the way I wanted it.  I even had to pull two of the boxes apart at one point.  When I craft, I mess up and change my mind all the time.

I added both types of glue to one side of a box and added the next box to it.  Then I repeated that step with the other two boxes. I attached the two bottom boxes together and the two top ones, making sure they were as even as possible so that they would attach to each other nicely.  From there I glued the top two boxes to the bottom two boxes with the same two types of glue method.  If any of the glue seeps out to the front of the boxes, just used a bit of red chalk paint to cover up the glue.  And your done!

I love these boxes.  This is not what I had planned to do but I am glad I switched things up a bit because I like this so much better.  You can add anything you want to the center of these boxes.  You do not have to put the circles back in them but if you do not, make sure you sand down the rough spots before you paint them.  You can use stencils or stickers to spell out different four-letter words in the boxes.  Just use your imagination and you can have a one of a kind piece of decor to brighten up your home.

Thank you so much for coming back to my blog and I will see you all again soon!

Melissa McGuire

Supply List

Waverly White Chalk Paint- Walmart

Red Chalkboard Paint- You can use Waverly Red Chalk Paint.  I believe my chalk paint came from Tuesday Morning.

Paint Brushes- Hobby Lobby

Trinket Dish for Paint- Dollar Tree

4 Shadow Style Boxes- Dollar Tree

Wooden Heart Stickers- Dollar Tree

Metallic Stickers- Dollar Tree

Surebonder Hot Glue Gun- Hobby Lobby

Surebonder Glue Sticks- Hobby Lobby

E6000 Glue- Hobby Lobby