Victorian Keepsake Box

The Victorian era reminds us of lavish lace, delicate dried flowers and antiques richly displayed. Crafting with a Victorian flair does not need to be expensive though and can be accomplished with ordinary crafting odds and ends.

What you need

Any size Heart Shaped Paper Crafting Box
Scissors or Rotary Cutter and Mat
Decoupage Glue (White or Off-White)
1/2 yard of Thin Ribbon
1/2 yard of 1″ Wide Ribbon Gathered Lace
Antique Buttons or Pewter Charms
Strand of Beaded Crafting Pearls
Hot Glue Gun

Instructions

First gather all of your left over scraps on material and group them together according to color. You will want to use several patterns of fabric that compliment one another with the same color tones and hues. I chose 5 fabrics with a Blue, Mauve, Rose and Antique White floral combination but you can use any combination as long as you choose fabrics with a very small pattern. Stay away from stretchy or sheer fabrics as well. Cotton or broadcloth is a good choice.

Cut your fabric into 1 1/2 inch, 2 inch or 1/2 inch squares. Use a roll cutter and mat to speed up this process. I used fabric that was both 1 1/2 inch wide squares as well as some 1/2 inch squares for my patchwork box.

Starting on the bottom of your box use a small sponge brush and decoupage glue to attach your fabric squares to a paper craft box. Decoupage will take the place of your glue and is available in craft stores in 2 sizes of bottles and in white or off-white. Off-White decoupage will go on slightly yellow and give you an antique finish to your box.

Add your squares randomly overlapping squares in a haphazard pattern that covers all of the paper craft box. You will not need to apply the decoupage carefully, it is very forgiving and your box can be covered quickly by dabbing decoupage on top of each fabric square and applying it to your box. Finish the inside of your box all in the same color and trim the edge carefully. If you have creases in your fabric smooth them out to lie flat. This is especially important around the rim of your box. The lid will not fit securely if the fabric is not smooth.

Decoupage fabric squares on the top of your lid as well as on the inside too. Again, I chose to use the same color of fabric on the inside of my lid with a collage of all the fabrics on the outside of the lid and box for a finished look.

After your decoupaged box has dried completely. Use hot glue to add 1 inch wide ribbon lace around the edge of the lid. You can embellish the top of the box however you wish but I choose to make lace medallions using scraps of flat lace and sewing a gathering stitch around the outer edge. Pull one end of the thread to gather the stitches and create a medallion. I made two different sized medallions and hot glued 2 inch strands of crafting pearls under the lace medallion prior to hot gluing it in the center of the heart box. the largest medallion on the top of the heart lid first. Hot glue the smaller medallion on top of the large one for a double stacked effect. Sew or Hot glue thin loops of ribbon on top of the small lace medallion. Add antique buttons or pewter charms to the top of the ribbon as the final finishing touch to a fancy Victorian keep sake box.

Your box would be a fun way to organize your jewelry and can be lined with satin or velvet fabric instead of decoupaged squares. You could also make miniature boxes using the same method, for fabulous Christmas tree ornaments!

This project was contributed by Rachel Webb. Shafer