Decorative gift box

Make yourself a merry little Christmas. 24 days of gifts and makes to create a frugal home made Christmas.

Day seventeen.

Decorative gift box



Material needed:

Paper Mache craft box

Black acrylic paint

Modelling paste

Water colours (or watered down acrylic paint) Red and Green

Stencil with motif of choice. Children’s craft stencils are fine.

Paint brushes

Heat gun (optional)

Butter knife

Artist acrylic varnish


Method:

Step 1: Paint the paper Mache craft box inside and out and on the bottom using black acrylic paint. A second coat might be needed. Leave to dry between coats.

Step 2: Take your chosen stencil motif – if you use a motif that is not Christmas the box can be used all the time – I used a tulip stencil motif. Lay the stencil down on the lid of the box. Work out an arrangement that looks nice, then using the modelling paste and a butter knife fill in the stencil with the modelling paste. At this point you can use a heat gun to dry the modelling paste or let it dry naturally. Do this for remaining motifs as needed. If the stencil looks a bit messy when you lift it off, use a thin brush to clean up the modelling paste before you dry it.

Step 3: Using watercolours or watered down acrylic paint, paint your stencilled motifs. Make sure you cover all the modelling paste so no white is showing around the edges of the motifs. Use a heat gun to dry, or let dry naturally.  Before drying wipe away a bit of the colour to let touches of white show through. Let dry.

Step 4: Paint over top of the stencil using very watered down black acrylic paint. Then using a paper towel wipe away some of the paint to let the watercolour show through. Wipe as much as you can away, but not all. This will give an aged look.
Let dry.

Step 5: Paint the entire out side of the box with the varnish. Leave the bottom and inside plain or paint with varnish as desired.

Step 6: Fill the box with gifts of choice and wrap nicely.

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