TREASURE CHEST

Here's a treasure chest I painted and decoupaged several years ago. It started out as an unpainted, wooden chest with just hinges and a latch attached. I painted it my favorite robin's egg blue and detailed it with red, yellow, and black with white polka-dots (what else?). I used the computer to create a font and printed the letters out on the reverse side of the polka-dot paper, cut them out and decoupaged them onto the lid. Next, I added a red and white checked paper with a black outline for the top border.

The four sides of the treasure chest have a yellow and white checked, scalloped edge decoupaged all around. I used a large circle punch for this shape and cut the scallops on the diagonal. Next, I added one small red polka-dot to the middle of each scallop. The red and white checked border was repeated around the bottom edge. The lid of the treasure chest has a tiny black and white polka-dot border decoupaged all around. Also, I used 2" round ball knobs as feet after painting them black and gluing on white polka-dots. They were screwed onto the bottom of the chest for security.

And last, but not least, I created a handle for each side of the treasure chest by using a dowel, painting it red and inserting the ends into two smaller round knobs. The handles were also screwed into the chest, so it could be easily carried around.

This chest usually contains American Girl doll clothes, but Frannie temporarily took them out to put in her latest treasure - Halloween treats! Look, Georgie has to get in on the act - he's just checking to make sure the candy is safe, he won't actually get any of that treasure. You'll notice that I finished off the inside of the treasure chest with a coat of creamy white paint and decoupaged black and white checked paper along the edge of the lid and chest.

Have I shown you the table the treasure chest is sitting on? Maybe next time.

S.W.A.K.