Jewelry Box Makeover – DIY

The retail world is flush with beautiful jewelry boxes – lacquered, blinged, mirrored, most are lovely and pricey.  A  recent thrifting safari yielded a large damaged one for a whopping $3.99.  She had serious dings but surely I could restore her….ahem.  The initial plan was to glue on semi-precious rough cut stones…craftastrophy.  Ultimately, I framed the cracks with shell beads filling them in with crushed potato pearls, violet and gold faceted glass, and moonstones.  I’m in love with the results as the “crushables” are sparkly, opalescent, and loaded with texture. I can’t wait to use this technique on other projects – gift boxes, encased pendants, trim, jar fillers the list is endless.  Here we go:

Materials

-Jewelry box

-Any kind of colored crushable bead, stone or hard material

-Mallet

-Brown paper bag

-Loctite glue (dries clear)

-Spoon and or toothpick

Instructions

-Glue a frame down or not.  I had to based on the cracks but a raw edge would look fabulous

-Insert beads into a paper bag and whack away (like that gopher stomping arcade game) to reach desired consistency  – I varied large and small pieces.  Separate materials.

-Apply first layer of glue inside base (should be a bit goopy)

-Using a small spoon, apply crushed elements in layers, letting glue dry in between (subsequent layers should be thinner).   A toothpick comes in handy to fill in gaps.

–Optional – once everything is dry you can apply clear nail polish or top coat for extra security