Make a Jewelry Box

A woman's jewelry is often her most prized possession, but sometimes storing the pieces becomes a problem as her collection grows over time. Here are several ways to make your own jewelry box to keep your precious items safe. They also make a cute, personalized gift!

Steps

Making a Two-Tone Wood Jewelry Box[1]

  1. Measure and cut the wood for the top, bottom, and sides of the jewelry box. For this step, you'll need twelve pieces of wood that are cut to 240 mm and six pieces of wood cut to 248 mm, all about 1 inch wide and 1/4 inch for the height. Use a handsaw to cut the pieces.
    • Make sure that the width and height of all 18 pieces of wood are exactly the same.
    • Try to purchase wood sticks that are already pre-cut to be 1 inch wide and 1/4 inch high. That way you'll only need to worry about cutting the length.
  2. Measure and cut the wood for the ends of the jewelry box. You'll need to cut 12 pieces at 50 mm each, with the same other dimensions as the other pieces (1 inch wide and 1/4 inch high).
  3. Sand the cut edges. In order to removed the jagged edges left from cutting the wood, you'll need to lightly sand the edges with some sandpaper.
  4. Stain the wood. To achieve the beautiful two-tone look, you'll need to stain half of the pieces of wood (of all sizes). So, separate each size of the wood pieces into two sections and apply wood stain to one group.
    • Choose any wood stain color you like, as long as it contrasts with the existing wood color. Apply the stain generously and wipe off the excess with a paper towel or rag. You need to cover the surface area of both sides and the ends, but don't worry about getting all of the 1/4 inch side because these sides will be glued together.
    • Let the stain dry completely (at least 4 hours) until you move on to the next step.
  5. Make the sides. Take the six pieces of wood that were cut to 248 mm and line them up. Each side of the jewelry box will be made out of three of the six pieces.
    • Use wood glue to glue the pieces together lengthwise into two three-piece sections, making sure you alternate between the stained and unstained pieces to achieve the two-tone look.
    • Wipe off any excess glue that leaks up between the cracks.
    • Make sure the ends are lined up perfectly and then let the glue dry. You can clamp the pieces into place for a more secure, tight seal if you would like.
    • To avoid gluing the wood to whatever surface you're working on, it might be helpful to lay down a piece of clear Saran wrap to work on.
  6. Make the base. Alternating between stained and unstained pieces, line up six of the 240 mm pieces of wood on the Saran wrap to make the base. Glue the pieces together, but instead of lining up the ends, alternate them by 1/4 inch (so that the end pieces will fit inside the gaps).
  7. Make the ends. Line up the short end pieces that you cut (the 50 mm pieces), alternating stained and unstained pieces, on each end of the base. Each end will be six pieces long.
    • Because of how you off-set the edges of the base, one piece will sit on the table and be flush with the base, while the next piece will sit on top of the base, and so on.
  8. Attach the sides. Glue the sides of the jewelry box to the frame that you've made (out of the base and the ends). Let the frame dry fully before you move on.
    • You can use some pieces of wood cut to fit the inside of the box to help the frame maintain its shape while it's drying.
  9. Use Vaseline to keep the lid from sticking. Apply a small coat of Vaseline to the off-set end pieces (the 50 mm pieces) to keep the lid from sticking to the frame with the excess glue when you glue it together.
  10. Make the top lid. Glue the remaining six 240 mm pieces of wood to each other in place on top of the frame. As before, make sure to alternate between stained and unstained pieces. The pieces will fit into the existing slots made by the alternating off-set end pieces.
    • Once all pieces are in place, you will have a perfect rectangular box.
  11. Clamp the box to dry. To help the jewelry box dry in the right shape, clamp the box on two sides with two hand clamps. Once the glue is dry, your jewelry box is finished.

Making a Jewelry Box out of an Old Book[2]

  1. Choose an old book. The only requirement is that it be a hardcover book; you can use any kind you want, even old textbooks that you no longer need!
    • The length of the book is also up to you, but remember that the shorter the book (page-wise), the smaller your jewelry box will be.
  2. Draw a rectangle inside the book. Open the book and, on the first page, draw a rectangle using your ruler. Your lines should be one inch from the edge all the way around.
  3. Cut the pages. Use an X-Acto knife to cut along the lines of the rectangle you just drew. It may be helpful to use cut along the line of your ruler to keep your cuts as straight as possible.
    • Cut all the way around and discard the page rectangles from the center. Do this as many times as necessary.
    • Remember, the thicker your book is, the more cuts you'll need to make as the X-Acto knife will only go through a handful of pages at a time.
    • As you cut, it may be helpful to use a binder clip to hold the pages together that you have already cut. This will keep the pages you are done with out of your way as you continue cutting.
  4. Shake all the excess paper out. As you cut, little slivers of paper will get lodged in the pages. Hold the book upside down by both covers and shake out any loose pieces.
  5. Glue the pages together. Use Mod Podge (crafting adhesive/sealant) to glue all of the pages. First, dip a paint brush in the Mod Podge and paint in between several pages to make them stick together. Then, paint the outside of all of the pages as well as the edges of the pages that are exposed inside the rectangle that you cut. You should glue the pages to the bottom cover, but leave the top cover of the book unglued.
    • Alternatively, you can use watered-down regular glue (Elmers, etc.) instead of the Mod Podge.
    • It should take the adhesive approximately ten minutes to fully dry.
    • Once the book is completely dry, the front cover of the book should lift up to reveal the cut-out rectangle pages where you can store your jewelry.
  6. Decorate the outside. If you want to, you can decorate the outside of the book to make it more attractive. You can glue on rhinestones or fabric designs (flowers, etc.) to suit your taste.

Making a Jewelry Box out of Fabric and Foam Board[3]

  1. Make the frame of the jewelry box out of foam board. Take a piece of foam board (cut to 20 cm by 20 cm) and use a ruler to draw a square inside that is 4 cm from the edge all the way around.
    • To do this, measure 4 cm on one end of the foam board (and make a mark at this point) and do the same on the other. Draw a line connecting the two marks. Then, repeat this step for the other three sides of the foam board.
  2. Cut off the corners of the foam board. The intersections of the lines that you drew in the previous step will make square shapes in all four corners of the foam board square. Cut out the squares in each corner using an X-Acto knife.
  3. Cut the board to make the jewelry box frame. On the line that you drew to make the smaller square in the center of the foam board, use an X-Acto knife to make shallow cuts along the lines. You will make four shallow cut lines in the foam board.
    • Be careful not to cut all the way through the board.
  4. Make the cube shape of the jewelry box. Fold each side of the foam board along the lines of the shallow cuts. This will make a cube shape (excluding the top section of the "cube").
    • Use masking tape to secure the sides of the cube together so that the foam board holds its shape.
  5. Glue the fabric to the box. For this step, you'll need a piece of fabric (any design that you choose) that measures 24 cm by 24 cm. Lay the fabric down (pattern down) and put the cube that you've made on top of it.
    • You should place the cube so that the points of the fabric line up with the flat sides of the cube.
    • Use fabric glue to adhere the fabric to the cube. You'll put the glue on the triangle of the fabric and pull it over the edge of the jewelry box cube. Do this for all four sides.
  6. Make the bottom of the jewelry box. Take a piece of cardstock and cut out a 10 cm by 10 cm square.
    • Use fabric glue to adhere it to the bottom of the jewelry box.
    • You can choose whatever color of cardstock you like. But remember that it will be the visible bottom of the jewelry box, so make sure it is a color/design that you are comfortable with showing.
  7. Make the top of the jewelry box. Cut out a piece of foam board in a square that measures 11 cm by 11 cm. Glue an identical piece of foam (that also measures 11 cm by 11 cm) to the foam board.
    • Take a piece of fabric that measures 15 cm by 15 cm and attach it to the top that you've made just as you attached the fabric to the cube, by pulling the triangle of the fabric down over the square of the foam board. Line the points of the triangle up with the flat sides of the foam board and glue it to the foam board.
    • Again, you can choose any design of fabric that you want. Just make sure that it either matches or complements the pattern you used for the jewelry box base.
  8. Attach the top to the base of the jewelry box. Cut a piece of matching fabric that measures 4 cm by 10 cm. Glue the piece of fabric longways to the base, only gluing the bottom half of it on the base. Then glue the top half of the fabric strip to the top.
  9. Decorate the box to your taste. You can leave the jewelry box as is, or add some decorative ribbon around the outside to add an extra design element.

Tips

  • Make all folds and creases straight. A metal straight edge may help.
  • Make sure all measurements are exact; folds and creases as exactly as possible.

Warnings

  • Watch for paper cuts and scissors.

Things You'll Need

  • Straight edge (rulers work well)
  • Wood
  • Hand saw
  • Sandpaper
  • Wood stain
  • Wood glue
  • Vaseline
  • Hand clamps
  • Ruler
  • Fabric
  • Foam board
  • Piece of foam
  • Scissors (Or Paper Cutters)
  • Craft glue
  • Decorative ribbons, flowers, etc.
  • An old book
  • X-Acto knife
  • Paint brush
  • cardstock
  • Pencil

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KFqA2dj3Zo
  2. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYkdfhaTUZc
  3. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMpKfoSWyYQ

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