DIY: Handmade Candy Boxes
(Page 2 of 3)
December/January 1994
By The Herb Companion staff
You can position the cutouts to overlap the top and bottom halves of the box so that the plants seem to wrap around it, but there are many other ways to produce a pleasing design. You can decoupage just the top of the box or do the top and bottom separately with related illustrations. You may prefer to paint the inside and bottom in a contrasting color or decoupage them; you may glue felt to the bottom, line the inside with a satiny fabric (if the box is not intended to hold food), or decoupage a tiny butterfly inside that is revealed like a jewel when the box is opened. Making these boxes personal is part of the fun.
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Because decoupage involves a lot of time waiting around for each coat of gesso and finish to dry, we found it most efficient to work on several boxes—as many as a half dozen—at once. Now that you’ve bought the decoupage materials, you might as well use them, and the cost of additional boxes is nominal. The extra decorated boxes are useful to have on hand during the holiday season for any special occasion.
Materials
- 2 paintbrushes, one with bristles
- 1 inch wide, one 1/2 inch wide
- Gesso
- Box
- #400 superfine sandpaper
- #000 or #0000 steel wool
- Clean rags
- Acrylic paint in a light color
- Acrylic sealer
- Antiquing finish
- Sponge
- Illustrations
- Oil-based colored pencils in soft colors
- Small curved manicure scissors
- Decoupage finish
- Razor blade (if design covers top and bottom of the box)
1. With the larger paintbrush, brush a coat of gesso onto the outside surfaces of the box to be decoupaged. Let it dry to the touch, which will take about 20 minutes. Sand each surface lightly with sandpaper, rub it with steel wool, then wipe it with a clean rag to remove any residue. Repeat these steps, applying four to seven coats of gesso, until the surface is smooth.
2. When the box is completely dry, paint the outside surfaces with acrylic paint, and when the paint is dry, spray the box with sealer. Allow it to dry.