Luscious chocolates box

Hi everyone!

Today’s post brings a little confession: I am a chocoholic! I guess that became clear to me last S. Valentine’s day, when my boyfriend handed me a wonderful (and big) box of chocolates and told me: “I knew you would have enjoyed flowers, but I guess you will like these more!”. That was a very pleasant surprise, because it made me understand how well he truly knows me (ahahah…no! that was a pleasant surprise because I had an entire box of chocolates for me…yummy!!!!!!)…well the deeper meaning also came to my mind, but only after I got the sweets out of my sight ;-).

After some days of intense efforts put into not finishing all those goodies right away, I decided to use this experience as inspiration for a vintage, yummy decoupage box, which I will dedicate to all the chocoholics out there. If you also share this little addiction, or if you know anyone who does, here is a step-by-step tutorial on how to create your own.

Materials:

• Wooden box
• Matte basecoat
• Cream acrylic paint
• Liquid bitumen (or any other antiquing medium)
• Decoupage glue
• Clear sealer
• Background image (optional) (I used Calambour’s mulberry paper PAU59)
• Chocolates graphics (I got mine from Calambour’s mulberry paper DGR180)
• Chocolates label (I used one from Calambour’s paper DGE229)
• Lace

First of all, I lightly sanded the box surface. I then applied the basecoat and the cream paint, letting dry between coats. I sanded again the entire surface, so that the wood grain would emerge. I tore small pieces of background mulberry paper and glued them sparsely using decoupage glue. Once the piece dried, I added the pastries graphics (both on the inside and on the outside of the box… chocolates are never enough, right?) and the label, before applying 3 coats of clear sealer in order to protect the creation.

I then gave a vintage look to the piece by  using a sponge to apply liquid bitumen on the edges. I advice to always use the antiquing medium after a couple coats of sealer, otherwise the paper, which is more permeable then the wood, might get stained.

To embellish the box, I used decoupage glue to attach the cotton lace around the perimeter of the top. When doing this, I am usually very generous with the quantity of glue I use (I keep brushing it on, until the lace gets soaked). This not only allows for a better bonding, but also makes the lace water (and stain) proof.

And here is my little finished creation!

I hope you like it, and I wish you a very sweet day!

My favorite parties: Under the Table and Dreaming -  Between Naps on the Porch - Dwellings - Creatively living - The dedicated house - Rain on a tin Roof - Its So Very Cheri - DIY Showoff - The Stories of A2Z - Coastal Charm - A Stroll thru Life - My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia - Stone Gable - Cozy little house  - Knick of time -Savvy Southern Style - Ivy and Elaphants - Green Willow Pond - Chic by Tab - No Minimalist Here - From my front porch to yours - Craftberry Bush  - The Brambleberry Cottage - French Country Cottage - Common Ground - The Charm of Home - The shabby nest - Romantic home - Sunny simple life - The cottage market

P.s. If you don’t want to miss any crafty project, remember to follow the blog by clicking on the “join this site” button in the right column ;-)

Spring nest

Hi everyone,

The last days have been wonderful here in Milan, with lots of sunshine and warm afternoons bringing happiness and anticipation for spring’s official start in a couple of days. I therefore decided to I start decorating the house in order to welcome the new season.

I had been looking for a cute, shabby bird cage for a very long time and finally found one last weekend, while walking around the center of the city. The piece was already very nice (you can see how it originally looked like in picture 2), but I still decided to personalize it with little adornments I found at a craft fair, which was also happening this weekend (and here you understand how very joyful the last couple of days must have been ;-) ).

First of all, I weaved an artificial peach flowers branch among the bars of the cage, adding little berry bunches here and there. I then used wire to attach a cute bird and a couple of tiny eggs to a pretty little nest. Last but not least, I created a clay rose to be added between the front bars.

I liked how the piece turned out, but something was still missing. I therefore decoupaged two wooden eggs using Calambour’s wonderful mulberry papers. I chose a sheet of music (PAU 48) and some roses (PAU 75 and PAU 34), which reminded me of the wonderful sound of spring birds’ songs.

I am very pleased with my little creation, which perfectly matches my spring wreath I made yesterday (pictures coming soon) and lightly brings some spring in my room. I hope you will like it too… and wish you a  wonderful, almost-spring day!

My favorite parties: Under the Table and Dreaming -  Between Naps on the Porch - Dwellings - Creatively living - The dedicated house - Rain on a tin Roof - Its So Very Cheri - DIY Showoff - The Stories of A2Z - Coastal Charm - A Stroll thru Life - My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia - Stone Gable - Cozy little house  - Knick of time -Savvy Southern Style - Ivy and Elaphants - Green Willow Pond - Chic by Tab - No Minimalist Here - From my front porch to yours - Craftberry Bush  - The Brambleberry Cottage - French Country Cottage - Common Ground - The Charm of Home - The shabby nest - Romantic home - Sunny simple life - The cottage market

P.s. If you don’t want to miss any crafty project, remember to follow the blog by clicking on the “join this site” button in the right column ;-)