Keepsake Wedding Box

Ever since my son Tony got engaged, I've wanted to make Alex a keepsake box to put wedding items into as they plan their special day.  Then after the wedding they can use it for storage and decoration.  My first problem was finding a box.  Originally I was planning on finding a vintage hope chest and refinishing that, but I decided against it because of its large size.

Then one day last summer we were up in Kenosha, Wisconsin and we stopped at a yard sale where Chablis spied a box filled with old baseball caps.  I almost tripped over my own feet as I rushed over to check it out.  I quickly dumped all the baseball caps onto a tarp and purchased the box on the spot - for $ 3.00!  It was in really rough shape, but I fell in love with it and thought it was a steal!

I know, it's pretty sad looking, but I could just see what I wanted it to be.  First I scrubbed it down with soapy water and bleach, and let it sit outside to air out for a few days.

Next I got out my electric sander and smoothed out the entire outside of the box.  Next up I started painting.  Tony and Alex have chosen blue and gold as their wedding colors, so I picked out a pretty blue and got to work....

I wanted to line the inside of the chest with some wedding themed paper, so I got some scrap booking paper with a wedding dress and tuxedo theme.  I cut down the sheets to fit around the inside and glued them in and then coated with a couple layers of modge podge....

Once the paper was all dried, I glued lace trim around the edges and then added gold beading around the entire perimeter.  I spray painted some buttons gold and finally glued gold and white buttons and white pearls along one edge.  I also added a vintage skeleton key and a vintage number nine in one corner, to signify their anniversary date....

I wanted to stencil a quote onto the chest and Tony and I kept kicking around ideas, until one day I happened to see a Bible verse that Alex had pinned on her Pinterest board and as soon as I saw it, I knew that was the quote....

I added 2 lovebirds on a branch.....

And afterwards I distressed the entire chest and gave it a light coating of stain to age it....

At the last minute I decided I didn't care for the silver hardware, so I removed all of it, gave everything a couple coats of spray-on gold paint, and put it all back together.  I was so happy I did that because the gold hardware looks so much better....

And there it is, all finished  up.  I couldn't wait until Christmas got here so I could give it to Alex.  She absolutely loves it and she said they are going to try to use it for something at the wedding.

  I think that would be such a great idea.  The box is approximately 3' x 2' x 2'.  I hope they keep it and enjoy it for years to come....

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