Welcome to my blog!

Thanks so much for stopping by! I believe that everyone can have a beautiful home without spending a fortune! One of my favorite things to do is find creative ways to re-purpose things I already have on hand, or have picked up at yard sales and thrift stores. Join me as I share with you some of my favorite ideas for crafting and decorating, as well as travel adventures, and fun things that I pick up on my treasure hunts! Much of my work is influenced by my love all things French, nature, and of course shabby chic! I have gotten so many creative ideas from you very talented bloggers out there, and I hope that I can be an inspiration to you as well!

Monday, November 2, 2015

Vintage Jewelry Box Makeover

Hi everyone, happy November!
Wow, it sure is hard to believe that Halloween is already past, and soon the holidays will be upon us!!
Today I thought I'd share with you one of my latest projects that I completed for DecoArt, a vintage jewelry box which I transformed.
Here is a peak at the "after".  Of course, it didn't look like this when I discovered it!

 When I first spotted the piece while thrifting, I just knew it would be fun to give it makeover.
I was drawn to the raised panels on the doors and each side, as well as the pretty embossed design on the top.  Plus, it was made in Japan and very well built, and the music box still worked!  It plays "Lara's Theme" perfectly.  While the ballerina designs on the panels were pretty, they were showing some wear, and one was starting to peel off.  
The two doors opened to reveal three velvet lined drawers.  Only problem was, they were red velvet!
While the material was still in very good shape, the color just did not fit with what I had in mind.
No problem!  I decided to remove the velvet and paint and decoupage the inside of the drawers. Sounds easy enough, right? Well, was I ever wrong!
Can you believe I literally spent hours removing every last trace of that velvet and cardboard backing from the drawers??  It was very frustrating, to say the least!  In the end, I am glad that I decided to redo the insides.  With that said, the next time I make over a jewelry box, I will leave the insides alone!:)
Ok, I am getting a little ahead of myself in all the excitement!
I first removed the hinges on the doors.  Then I painted the entire box in my favorite light blue chalk paint, called "Vintage".  It has just a bit of gray undertones and is oh so pretty!
I also used some creamy white "Lace" chalkpaint to dry brush the piece and give a bit of dimension.
I knew I wanted the drawers to be a bit darker, so I mixed in some black "Carbon" chalk paint with the light blue, resulting in a nice dove gray.
I also gave the entire piece a little glazing treatment for instant aging.
The piece de la resistance is the pretty floral design that I decoupaged onto the raised panels.
It is from DecoArts new decoupage paper line, and I just love it!
Aren't those blue roses gorgeous?
I've done quite a bit of decoupaging over the years, and this was my first experience using actual decoupage paper.  It is the perfect weight and texture, and is so easy to work with!
Here's a look at the embossed design in the top.  It's hard to see in my photo, but the glazing settled into the design making it a bit more pronounced, just as I was hoping.

Oh, another thing I forgot to mention!  I painted the border of the raised panels in creamy "Lace" to help set them off.
I also used Lace to paint the inside of the drawers.  Then I lined them with more of DecoArts decoupage paper in a vintage sheet music motif.  Love!
I must say that I am thrilled with the end result!
Aren't the cute little wooden feet darling?
In the end, it was worth all of the work, and it was a very fun makeover!
I can't wait to find another box that I can transform!
Thanks so much for stopping by, hope you have a great week!
Disclaimer:  I am compensated by DecoArt, but all opinions
are my own.

16 comments:

Celestina Marie said...

Hi Donna, WOW the jewelry box turned out stunning. I love it and the color with the ageing is gorgeous. The rose paper is beautiful and made a perfect compliment to your background color. The inside turned out wonderful. I know that was a lot of work to take out the red velvet but so worth it.
The little feet are so sweet. You knocked this out of the park my friend and DecorArt is going to flip again with this design. Love it.
Happy Creating. xo

Row homes and Cobblestones said...

Hi Donna,
You did a lovely transformation on this jewelry box. Pretty color choice and love the aging you did, inside is stunning too.
xoxo,
Vera

Musings from Kim K. said...

Another beautiful transformation and who would have guessed how much work it would be to pull that velvet off the interior drawers.

Bente said...

Oh Donna you did a beautiful transformation on the box. I love it.
Hugs

Mary@mydogsmygardenandmary said...

WOW Donna, you sure worked your magic on that jewelry box. It is stunning and I love your choice of colors and paper. You are amazing.
Hope all is well with you and are enjoying Fall. Soon it will be Christmas......
Have a great week, and Waldo and Lili send hugs,
Mary

Linda @ A La Carte said...

Donna, you just turned this box into a treasure! Love the colors and those little feet. I have an old jewelry box my oldest gave me one Christmas many years ago. I keep saying I need to do a makeover on it!

hugs,
Linda

NanaDiana said...

Wow, Donna! You did a fantastic job on that piece. What a LOT of work removing all the old velvet from the drawers though. I would have probably just spray painted them because I am lazy like that. lol What you did looks SO much better though.
I love all the thought you put into it and the details on it. That paper is gorgeous. I have never used actual decoupage paper either. I bet it was a dream to work with compared to regular paper.
I bet you are going to hold onto this baby after all that work! xo Diana

Rose L said...

I think it is pretty!

EL RINCON DE CHELO said...

Te quedó precioso!!! que cambio!!

Debbie said...

Wow...so much work on those drawers, but so worth it for the end results! Will you be keeping this piece, Donna?
You are gifted to be able to envision what something will look like in it's "before" state. I wish I could do that.
Very pretty box!!
Love you.
Debbie
xo

Okio B Designs said...

Lovely makeover! I love the sheet music in the drawers.

Jeanine

The Polka Dot Closet said...

You did a perfect transformation, the colors are perfect and the floral decoupage....I didn't know there was such a thing as "decoupage paper"...I learn something everyday

Carol

Cynthia said...

Hi Donna, honest I wouldn't have seen it as something workable. You did a great job and the floral paper you chose is perfect and so romantic in feel.

Cindy

handmade by amalia said...

This box now looks like it came from a high end shop, you did well, Donna!
Amalia
xo

Susan EvelynAndRose said...

Oh Donna, you have outdone yourself! What a transformation. Sorry to hear that the red velvet took so long to remove - I'm not a huge fan of red velvet either. But the effort was well worth it. And the panels look amazing. I just adore how you added the cream to their edges!

Ricky Rowe said...

You did an incredible job on the jewelry box. It looks wonderful. It doesn't even look like the same piece. You really have a lot of talent and I'm glad to see people using their creativity to create such beautiful items. You really look something lack-luster and made it into a wonderful item.

Ricky Rowe @ Find A Jewelry Expert