Creating a Cufflinks Box

Another installment of new crafts with Rachael!

Where she pretends like she knows what she's doing and it somehow all works out.

I wanted to get the boyfriend a cufflinks box, but I couldn't find any I really liked, or any I thought he would like that seemed worth what the stores were asking. So, I made one! It actually turned out to be fairly simple and not too expensive. (Unless the boyfriend is reading this, in which case I spent a ton of money and time, and also I am an amazing person who can do anything)
Kind of. I'm not SO deluded as to think I could actually create the box, so I got one at Michael's, and a few supplies from craft stores and Walmart.

 Fun fact: Sometimes my phone turns pictures blueish.

I chose a flatter box that came in a two pack, which was the best decision I made this whole time because I was able to play around with the woodburner on the smaller box to get used to it, and decide how I wanted to decorate it. I wanted to do a really simple design because I thought it would look classy. Also, less opportunity for me to mess it up.

 Spoiler alert, I did not freehand that. I found a stock photo on the internet and traced it, then laid it on the wood and burned through the paper for a light outline. (Again, boyfriend, don't listen. I am an artist.) The woodburner I purchased came with a couple different tips, and I used the fine point - the chisel was a little difficult to get a curve, but the point worked perfectly. Then I removed the paper and evened up the line.

I toyed with the idea of shading the bear in, but I ended up leaving him as a simple outline.

Next step: woodstain.

 I believe I chose a dark chestnut, or possibly walnut. I'm too lazy to stand up and go find it, but it's a lovely color. I focused first on the groove - I ended up using a wood skewer to just drip the stain into the groove until it was all colored. I only used one coat and rubbed it in immediately, because I didn't want it to be very dark. (Now I need to do a bunch more projects to use up the stain!)

I set it outside to dry and give my roomate and I some breathing room. Always do your projects in well-ventilated areas, guys.



And voila, a box. But I didn't just want a box - I wanted a jewelry box. So I got some hair rollers

 and removed them from their plastic prisons.

Got my box

and laid the rollers inside.

Don't make the rollers too snug, because your covering is going to fill out some space. I picked up some velvety paper at JoAnn's, next to the felt squares, so it had a pretty stiff backing. I laid it over the rollers and cut 1 1/2" strips, which reached around the rollers and touched the bottom again. I laid the rollers in one at a time and used a hot glue gun to secure both the rollers and the edges of the velvet.

Superglue was not effective on the foam, but the hot glue worked great!

 TaDa! I'm really excited how it turned out. I think I might even make myself one.

It almost makes me want to wear cufflinks!