A Beach Theme Box designed by Jaanhvi Hinduja

Hello everyone!

Its so pleasing to see the little craft community blooming with budding artists and great newer craft supplies being made available to us by so many like-minded suppliers. I am personally thrilled to have the new decoupage specialty papers released by Bob n Betty in a masculine theme – ‘Knighthood’. These papers have lovely rustic backgrounds and very macho elements, which make them perfect for projects related to men gifting and decor. However, I have a personal inclination towards articles, ideas or themes which can be used with versatility. And.. Here I go..with my take on one of the most beautiful designs from this collection which is rather nautical.

With destinations parties and weddings having theme based decor, attire and gifting, getting popular nowadays, I decided to make an invitation cum favour box in a rustic beach theme.

I chose a wooden box with a curved lid as the base of the project to make it look like a treasure chest. Next, I removed all hardware of the box and lightly sanded and cleaned it nicely. For the base, i gave two coats of dark brown chalk paint. After it dried completely, i applied petroleum jelly on the edges. Then, I mixed blue and green chalk paint to get a tealish blue shade and gave a nice two coats. Its important that each coat dries completely before the second coat is applied. Next, I took a fine grit sand paper and lightly sanded the edges of the box. This gave me a very distressed look – perfectly what I wanted. I repeated the process for the inside lid too. The outer lid of the box has been decoupaged. As the lid was curved i moistened the paper slightly before sticking it, to get it to fold easily and creaselessly.

Finally, i distressed the box further with antiquing wax to give it an old worn out look. The box has been further decorated with some sea shells and a rustic anchor to give it some interest.