Keepsake Christmas Ornament Box

I love handmade Christmas ornaments. Throughout the years I have

collected a number of them, made by myself and several family

members. These ornaments will make great keepsakes for our

children and grandchildren.

I have been looking for a creative way to store these keepsake

ornaments. In the past I have stored them with all my other tree

ornaments, but I wanted a special place to store them, especially

my daughter's ornaments that we have been collecting for her

throughout the years. After purchasing about $20 in supplies and

spending a couple of hours working on the project, I ended up

with a beautiful keepsake ornament box that I hope my daughter

will cherish for years to come.

To complete this project, you will need:

- Unfinished wooden box with lid

- Modge Podge (for decoupaging)

- Christmas cards

- Scissors

- Paint brushes

- Craft paint (optional)

- Acrylic sealer/finisher spray

All of the above items can be purchased at a craft store. The

craft store I went to had a variety of boxes to choose from. I

chose a small box that was $12.99. It was just what I was

looking for!

The box I chose has a raised border around the edges that looked

like it would be difficult to work around with decoupaging, so I

chose to paint it instead. I painted all the borders with

several coats of red acrylic paint.

Next I went through a big pile of old Christmas cards to find

suitable images to decoupage onto the box. This was the fun

part! Not only can you cut out pictures, you can also cut out

holiday sentiments from friends and family members. Just in the

past couple of years, several members of our extended family have

passed away, and projects such as this keepsake ornament box are

a great way to remember lost loved ones. Cut the cards into a

variety of sizes and shapes.

Using a paintbrush, apply Modge Podge or a similar decoupage

medium to the back of your cut out, then place the cut out on the

box. Paint a coating of Modge Podge over the cut out. Continue

pasting cut outs to the side of the box until it is covered, then

go over the entire side again with another coating of Modge

Podge. After the box is completely dry, you can apply another

coating for good measure.

After the box is complete (and dry), you can spray an acrylic

sealer/finisher spray over the entire box to protect the artwork

and eliminate the tackiness of the decoupage.

That's it! There is no limit to the possibilities of decorating

this beautiful ornament box. I haven't tried it yet, but I plan

to line the inside of the box with felt to give it a more

finished look.

Photo of finished keepsake ornament box:

http://www.crafty-moms.com/christmas-ornament-box.shtml

Rachel Paxton is a freelance writer and mom of four. For scrapbooking, card making, gift-giving ideas, and more family memory-making activities, visit http://www.crafty-moms.com.