With the beeswax candles sitting in our newly appointed "Present Box", I sat down to think what our next craft should be. It's March and the holidays are ten months away. Besides Christmas though there is also Easter, Mother's Day and various birthdays to consider.
After the New Year I picked up a somewhat expensive decorated Matchbox from Rachel Ashwell's Shabby Chic line. I bought it half off not being able to resist a matchbox covered in roses. My frugal side wondered how I could make them for less.
First I had to gather the supplies.
Pack of 3 Large Matchboxes.
Pack of 8 mini matchboxes.
Glitter, glue & Amy Butler Paper.
Vintage rick-rack
Vintage sequins.
Thrifted bling, jewelry & beads.
Buttons from estate sales.
Creating Matchbox Bling
Place one small & large matchbox on a sheet of scrap paper to make a pattern. Carefully draw around each box with a pencil. Cut out the pattern and place on decorated paper. I used Amy Butler paper, Cerys used some homemade marbled paper and I also used a page from an Anthropologie Catalog. Cut out two pieces of decorated paper per matchbox.
I used a Creative Memory tape runner to attach the paper to the matchbox in order to avoid the wrinkling that can occur with glue. The children used Martha's glue.
Fasten the decorated paper to each side. Make sure to apply tape runner as close to the edge of the matchbox to avoid the paper lifting at the edges.
I took a vintage clip-on earring and cut off the clip with beading pliers. I secured the flowered earring to the matchbox with super glue. I considered using a glue gun but I find that with my clumsiness, I tend to have glue strands covering my arms and hands after a typical glue battle craft. Somehow I managed to glue on every item without a drop of super glue on my skin. Selena 1-super glue 0.
I also added vintage beads, buttons and glitter.
The large vintage earring fit better on the larger matchbox.
I used pink rickrack, glitter and a single sequin to embellish this small matchbox.
The base paper is Amy Butler followed by an Anthropologie catalog page embellished with glitter and vintage buttons. This is the large matchbox.
The children loved working on this craft. They enjoyed the freedom of designing the box with the array of craft supplies on the table. Obviously because there are matches in the boxes, this is a craft that you want to supervise the entire time. You can find photos of Cerys' and Keiran's Matchbox Bling here and here.
This craft could easily be made with entirely thrifted supplies. I often find matchboxes at Estate Sales. Vintage wallpaper also could work well for covering the top & bottom portion of the matchbox.
Do you have any other ideas of how to create your own Matchbox Bling?
